1999-2000 GIRL'S BASKETBALL RECAPS

November 10, 1999  

Women’s Basketball

Spirit guides Planert

North senior attains scholarship, dedicates season to grandfather

By Steve Beaudry Leader-Telegram staff

ALTOONA -- Tears filled the corners of Emilee Planert’s eyes.

She found neither the words nor the capacity to mouth them. She blinked. She took a breath. She looked at her shoes.

It took the Eau Claire North senior several moments before she came to grips with the fact her grandfather -- one of the biggest supporters of her basketball pursuits -- had died at 3:50 p.m. Tuesday.

"My dad (Tom) told me when I got home from basketball practice," Planert said. "It was a shock. I never got a chance to tell him my good news.

"But I’m positive that, somehow, he knows. And I know he’s proud."

Planert made an official visit to the Kent University campus in Kent, Ohio, over the weekend. Upon arriving home Sunday, the 5-foot-8 guard decided to accept a basketball scholarship from the NCAA Division I program.

Once the paperwork from Kent arrives in the mail this week, she will sign. The official signing period runs from today through next Wednesday.

"I visited them last Thursday," Planert said of her grandfather, Bill, and grandmother, Ann. "I told them I was going to Ohio over the weekend to look at a college. They wished me luck. They knew I’d never been to Ohio.

"They told me to have a fun plane ride and to be careful."

Though Bill Planert, 74, had struggled with bone cancer and heart problems for three years, he missed attending only a few of Emilee’s home games.

"I told my grandma (Tuesday night) that I’m dedicating my season to him," Planert said. "I know he’ll be watching."

If his granddaughter continues progressing at her current rate, Bill Planert will see one of Wisconsin’s most poised, well-rounded, imaginative, untiring and elusive prep basketball players.

Planert has been so elusive that she’s escaped the attention of several NCAA Division I scouts.

"I think a lot of coaches figured she’d be going the softball route in college," said Keith Noll, the Wisconsin AAU president.

She wasn’t.

"Ever since third grade, my goal has been to play D-one basketball," Planert said. "I really like softball too, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to do both at the D-one level."

On a recommendation from Noll, Kent women’s basketball coach Bob Lindsay came to Menomonie on Oct. 31 to watch Planert showcase her skills in an open-gym setting at UW-Stout’s Johnson Fieldhouse.

"I’d heard he had a scholarship open, and I told him about Planert," Noll said. "Right when he saw her play, he was sold on her."

Planert’s athletic prowess enabled her to become a varsity starter as a freshman in basketball and softball at Altoona High School.

As a softball pitcher, she compiled a 45-7 record and 1.55 earned-run average. Last season, her team-best .500 batting average (35-for-70), 15-1 pitching record and 0.44 earned-run average helped vault the Railroaders (24-1) to a berth in the WIAA Division 2 state tournament.

Planert led the Railroaders’ girls basketball team in scoring in each of her three seasons with per-game averages of 12.4, 16.5 and 15.8 points, respectively. She also was the team’s top rebounder and free-throw shooter as a sophomore and junior.

This season, the Railroaders were to return all five starters from their 1998-99 team which tied for second place in the rugged Western Cloverbelt Conference. Planert, though, sought an even more rugged challenge for her senior year.

"I wanted to step up to a higher level," she said, regarding her decision to transfer to North, a WIAA Division 1 school. "When I found out about that new open-enrollment option last year, I thought about going to North.

"I figured I could go there without having to move, and I needed the challenge of playing at the Division 1 level if I was going to get any better."

According to Mark Noll, Planert’s AAU basketball coach, the area of her game that has improved most has been her defense.

"One of the biggest reasons Kent wanted her was because of the way she plays a full-court game," Noll said. "Kent plays an up-tempo style, and they don’t have room for players who get lax at the defensive end."

A signature play in Planert’s evolution into a defensive stalwart came during an AAU game on July 25 at Johnson Fieldhouse.

While Planert was dribbling the ball at midcourt, Jill Lehner, a high-watt point guard from North Fond du Lac, sneaked up from behind and stole it.

Lehner darted in for what seemed to be an uncontested layup -- until Planert soared in, seemingly from nowhere, and swatted Lehner’s shot into the bleachers. Artfully, Planert avoided making contact with Lehner on the play.

"I take a lot more pride in my defense than I used to," Planert said.

At Kent, Planert will join a team that has had a virtual pipeline to Wisconsin in women’s basketball. She is the 10th female player from the state to gain a Kent basketball scholarship since 1993.

The Golden Flashes this season return all five starters and seven letterwinners from their 1998-99 team that posted a 22-7 record and shared the Mid-American Conference regular-season title with a 14-2 mark.

In his 10 years as Kent’s coach, Lindsay’s teams have amassed a 186-104 record. He is the MAC’s winningest coach, and his teams hold the highest winning percentage (120-52, .698) in conference games in league history.

"They’ve got excellent academic philosophy there too. They have structured study groups for their athletes," said Planert, who holds a 3.6 grade-point average in high school. She plans to major in elementary education. "That was a huge selling point for me."

Last season, Kent had the eighth-highest GPA among all NCAA Division I women’s basketball programs. It was the lone non-private institution to rank in the top 25.

"Kent landed a real gem in Emilee Planert," Keith Noll said. "Mark my words: A lot of college coaches are going to be kicking themselves for letting her slip through the cracks."

Beaudry can be reached evenings at 833-9212 or (800) 236-7077 or at steve.beaudry@ecpc.com.