OU women's basketball: Parises outstanding people, too

Teammates and fans share stories:

Ashley, she was my roommate at UConn, my first road trip ever. I was part of the team but still kind of awkward. We weren’t the greatest of friends at that point.

It’s a three-day road trip, and I’m like, "Dang, what are we gonna talk about?”

We had a heart-to-heart. It was her telling me her dreams and telling me what she wants to do. And she told me she’d be disappointed in me if I wasn’t an All-American by the time I graduated. It was a cool moment. She’s one of my great friends. I consider her an inspiration. She’s probably my biggest encouragement in Norman. I know that if I’m oh-for-a-hundred, she’s going to be there — "Keep shooting.”

Courtney ... she’s the biggest crier — her and I are alike in that way; I’m very emotional, too — but it’s because she cares so much. Genuinely cares.

The other night, she wanted to win just as much for every other person in the uniform as she did for herself. I think that’s really special, especially for a superstar like her.

Courtney was at my grandparents’ house, and she falls asleep on the couch. I tried to wake her up and go back to a queen-sized bed in a spare bedroom. She mumbled something like, "I sleep on a king-sized bed, I’ll be fine.”

The next morning, I got in trouble from my grandmother for letting her sleep on the couch.

My dad is in a nursing home here in Norman. Over the years, I have met some wonderful residents there, but one in particular is very dear to me.

Her name is June. She is 88 years old and the biggest basketball fan you have every seen. She loves the Sooners. Every time the Sooners play, June is in her wheelchair right in front of her TV with her headphones on. (She does not want to disturb her roommate.)

I have season tickets to the OU women’s basketball games. They usually give away posters and things throughout the season. I picked up a few of the posters for June, and she has them proudly displayed in her room.

There is a large poster of Courtney ... on her closest door. She is crazy about Courtney.

One evening I went in to visit, and June was crying. She said the OU women’s basketball team had just been there to visit one of the residents. She just happened to see one of the girls walk by her room, and June proceeded to wheel herself to her door to see who it was. A few minutes passed, and the girls were walking back down the hall.

June stopped them and asked if they would like to come in her room and see her posters. They all came in her room. They visited with her, talked about basketball. They autographed her posters, and Courtney autographed the poster that June has of her.

Those ladies have no idea how much that visit meant. She was so emotional she could not even talk. She just kept repeating that Courtney had signed her poster.

I know she will never forget it. I know I won’t either.

Ashley is my best friend on the team. There was one time that I got really homesick my freshman year, and I would say this tipped off me and Ashley’s really close friendship. She knew I was upset one day after practice, one of those rough days at practice where everything just goes wrong. She calls me, "Hey, what are you doing? Come over here.”

She cooked fried rice for me. She’s a great fried-rice cooker. We just sat around, and we talked. We opened up to each other.

It’s little things like that with Ashley. We may not do big things, but it’s the little things that end up being the biggest things ever.

Courtney ... was in two of my classes, Survey of Broadcasting and Electronic News Gathering. The ENG class was in the summer of 2007. She had to miss the first week of classes due to games in Europe. I was skeptical about letting her stay in the class, but she worked hard to get up to speed. She is one of the humblest people I’ve ever met. She is confident but quiet. She leaves her athletic aggression at the door when she enters Gaylord Hall.

Early in the post-game celebration on Tuesday night, Ashley was brought to the south end of the arena for a TV interview. Standing behind the barrier in the same area stood a young girl holding a sign. Her name was Carlee, and she’s a big fan of Carlee Roethlisberger. She and her mother watched ... hoping for a chance to get Carlee’s attention so they could ask for her autograph.

But center court is a long way from the south end of the Ford Center.

I suggested that they try to get Ashley’s attention when she finished. Maybe they could get Ashley’s autograph if they couldn’t get Carlee’s.

I walked a few feet away to get a better view of the celebration. When I looked back, Ashley was autographing the sign. Then, I watched as she took the sign to center court for Carlee to sign and brought it back to Carlee’s biggest fan. It might not even be something that Ashley would remember the next day, but I’m sure it was a huge deal for a young fan named Carlee.

Summer and fall of ’08, Ashley interned for us. Very unassuming. People would come up to her all the time — "Oh, we love you. Good luck next year” — and she was very gracious, very humble.

She’s very soft-spoken.

Would never believe she was the star that she is.

The three of us took a road trip. Went to Austin at the end of the summer. A fun little weekend trip. We all have friends down there.

Me and Courtney tried to get (Ashley) to take her turn driving. We stop for gas. Me and Courtney get out and leave the keys in the car. Ashley’s in the back playing a video game. Then, Ashley comes out and locks the door. Ashley blamed us.

She never did end up driving. After that, we didn’t want her to.

My 34-year-old daughter, Melody Medley, who is a whopping 4 feet, 9 inches tall, attended the 2007 women’s basketball banquet with us.

She has been mistaken for Sherri Coale on several occasions — in Sherri’s curly hair days — so she thought it would be fun to have her picture taken with Courtney and Ashley. Not only were they kind enough to pose for the picture amid everything that was going on, they were gracious enough to bend down in order to shorten the difference between them and Melody.

By the way, Melody has on "Sherri Coale spiked heels” in the picture.

I remember when Courtney and Ashley came to Lawton to help with the "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” house. I was surprised and impressed to see them in Lawton and with their willingness to jump in and get their hands dirty to help out one of their fellow Okies.

They may eventually move back to California, but on and off the court, I believe they have earned the right and privilege to forever be considered Okies.

Last spring, my nephew was playing in the 6A regional basketball tournament in Moore. Courtney came to watch the games; I guess she just can’t get enough basketball.

Most of the members of my family spoke to her as we were walking through to our seats. She was very nice, especially to my 78-year-old mother who loves women’s basketball.