Kamiakin grad honored for stellar 1st year in the Big East before season was cut short

Kamiakin High School graduate Oumou Toure has been doing what she can to stay home during the coronavirus outbreak.

But as an athlete, it’s hard.

So, she’s finding ways to exercise.

“There are hikes, runs, jogs,” she said. “I’ve taken tennis up again.”

Wait a minute … tennis? And again?

“I played eight years of it competitively before high school, then concentrated on basketball when I got to high school,” Toure said. “I’ve been playing mostly every day. I could be another Serena Williams.”

She said that last part with a chuckle.

Toure’s specialty still is basketball, and she just completed her freshman season for Butler University. And she did it with honors.

Toure finished the season with an average of 8.6 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.4 steals per game. She led the entire Big East Conference in steals.

Big East All-Freshman Team

She also was a unanimous selection by the Big East coaches for the Big East All-Freshman Team.

“It was a fun experience,” Toure said of the season. “We just didn’t get to compete in the postseason.”

Toure said the Bulldogs, who were 19-11, were going to go to some tournament.

Maybe it wouldn’t have been the NCAA tournament.

But it could be been the Women’s NIT, or some other invitational tournament.

“We just knew we were going to have a postseason game,” she said.

Toure had been on campus in Indianapolis up until Tuesday, when she made her way down to Alabama to stay at her sister Sira’s place.

Khadidja, the oldest of the three Toure sisters, lives in South Carolina. But she can work remotely with her job, and she’s also in Alabama, staying with Sira.

All three sisters, Kamiakin graduates, have played NCAA Division I basketball.

Teammates becomes your family

And that freshman year can be a huge adjustment from high school.

“Especially being so far away from home,” Oumou said. “There is a big transition, basketball-wise, conditioning, and with academics.”

The loneliness of being away from home, especially 2,100 miles from the Northwest to the Midwest, can be overwhelming.

“I didn’t know anybody when I came here,” Toure said.

She could see her sisters every once in a while.

“But what happened is I definitely became closer with my teammates,” Oumou said. “Your team becomes your family.”

Then there are the academics.

A lot of university professors aren’t there to babysit students, and they don’t usually care if a student comes to class.

“It’s why you have to build a relationship with your professor,” Toure said. “You have to communicate with them. ‘I’m going to be gone this day (for a road game), so can I take the test early?’ You’re just always adjusting.”

Because Toure took Running Start classes in the Tri-Cities, she already has a junior academic standing.

Her calculus and physics classes counted from Running Start.

“So I kind of took it easy this year with some lower-level easier courses, because of the adjustment to college and basketball,” said Toure, who is majoring in computer science. “But next year I’ll be taking a lot of 300 and 400 level classes.”

Women’s college basketball

Then there is the transition from playing high school basketball to the top level of women’s college basketball.

“The game is faster and more physical,” Toure said. “The officials let you get away with a lot more on the court. The girls are stronger and faster. And you’re also adjusting to a new system.”

Butler head coach Kurt Godlevske started out the season by making his playbook — on offense and defense — smaller because he had a number of new players coming in, including Toure.

“I had to learn different spots,” Toure said. “I had to learn every position and what each player at that position was supposed to be doing in each situation. I was running the 1 (point guard), but I was also playing the 4 (power forward) or 5 (center) with a smaller lineup out on the court.”

As she was integrating into the system slowly, Toure said she began to pick up a lot more basketball knowledge.

Meanwhile Godlevske was getting to know his players and what they could do for the first month of the season.

“He had to see what worked,” Toure said. “He was trying different players in different lineups. Then before conference play began, he set a starting lineup.”

On Nov. 30, Godlevske inserted Toure into the starting lineup as a true freshman. She never left the starting lineup the rest of the season.

Kamiakin High

At Kamiakin, Toure was an all-state basketball player. She could sink the 3-point shot, but the biggest part of her game in high school was her ability to slash to the basket, then stay there and pound the offensive boards.

At Butler, she’s developed into a pretty good 3-point shooter. At 40 percent from the line (19 for 47), she is definitely the Bulldogs’ most accurate outside shooter.

“I think I just needed to get comfortable,” Toure said. “My teammates had so much confidence in me. I got so many shots up during workouts, that I became more confident shooting from the outside.”

In what would be her final game of the season, Butler lost 83-57 in the Big East Conference tournament quarterfinals to Seton Hall on March 7.

In that game, Toure was the team’s leading scorer, finishing with a career-high 22 points, going 5-for-6 from the 3-point line, and grabbing 7 rebounds.

It’s only been one season, but the question had to be asked: would she like to play basketball after college?

“Professionally, I would love to play overseas, or locally,” Toure said.

Locally would mean the WNBA.

Toure has been able to follow the league back in Indiana.

“We are located so closely to a number of WNBA teams,” she said. “And the Fever have been to some of our games.”

But if this coronavirus keeps everybody away from the basketball court much longer, Toure may have another option on her hands.

Tennis.

This story was originally published April 3, 2020 at 5:00 AM.