Sophomore Courtney Collins said she wasn't sure what it was about her interview with soon-to-be team Team USA tennis coach Ryan Freeman that landed her one of five coveted spots on the American roster for the 2011 World University Games.
The Fulton, Miss., native was selected at the end of November to represent her country when Team USA will travel to Shenzhen, China, in August to compete in the tennis portion of the International University Sports Federation's multi-sport event organized for university athletes around the world.
Though she was relatively unheard of, Collins, the only unranked member of the national squad, promised Freeman in her pitch that she'd be ranked by the time the team went to Asia.
"I talked about how bad I wanted it," Collins said of her interview. "I knew I had to take advantage of the opportunity to even be considered."
Afterwards Freeman told Collins he liked her "southernness" — the way she answered with "Yes, ma'am" and "No, sir," she said.
Her prowess on the court — chasing down wild balls and returning with a momentous forehand — probably also factored into the decision-making process.
During her senior year at Itawamba Agricultural High School, Collins was rated the No. 1 overall recruit out of Mississippi by tennisrecruits.net and chose The University of Memphis over Missouri, Ohio State, Ole Miss, Murray State, Tennessee, Louisville and Mississippi State.
This past summer, Collins fared well in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Summer National Championships, beating players from well-known programs such as North Carolina, Ohio State, Illinois and Virginia. In fall season tournaments this season, Collins held her own against two nationally-ranked players, as well as big names from Kentucky and Louisville. And this October, she became the first Lady Tiger to earn an invitational to the ITA All-American Championships.
Yet, her lack of publicity in a sport in which numbers and rankings serve as key bartering tools for players trying to move up the ladder left Collins thinking she was a long shot in the race for a spot in the University Games.
"I think it's a surprise that somebody like me is on the team — somebody not ranked, not really heard of," she said. "I think it's going to change things (for The U of M), and we'll be able to develop the program a lot better."
U of M coach Lee Taylor Walker said he was glad Freeman took the time to give Collins the chance — a golden opportunity to prove that her self-promotion was more than a trick of smoke and mirrors.
"I wasn't surprised that she made the team because of her ability and her skills," he said. "I was only surprised because I didn't know if she had gotten the exposure necessary to convince the coach that she was ready."
Walker described Collins as a highly analytical player, sometimes to a fault. Constantly asking if she is doing things correctly, her desire for perfection is evident in practice; her work ethic matched by few others, Walker said.
Both Walker and Collins said improving her serve and net game will be vital to her success when she travels to Shenzhen, a port city north of Hong Kong, in eight months.
"I think she'll be ready to contribute," Walker said. "Still, we need to improve a whole lot in the next four-to-five months."
Collins said she's up for the challenge.
"Everything can be improved," she said. "But I've always wondered what it would be like to play for the country. If I set my mind to something, I'm pretty stubborn about it. I'll go after it."
Passport in hand, she'll be going far for this one.
