Strong Group of CU Basketball First-Years Led by Susan Kern

Susan Kern has dealt with expectations since she arrived on the wood courts at Columbia. Her older sister, Patricia, is a starter for the women’s basketball team. It was inevitable that people would expect Susan to perform at least as well as her sister. Her performances against Cornell last week, however, raise those expectations to all-time highs.

“Susan is the type of player who is a shooter and a scorer,” Head Coach Jay Butler said. “She might go 25, 30 minutes into a game and only score a few points, but as she proved at Cornell she can also go on a two-minute rampage that changes the shape of the game. When you have her shooting ability, you just keep shooting and finally you get hot, and when you sink a couple of baskets in a row, you change the game. That’s what she has been able to give to us this second half of the season.”

As Columbia and Cornell entered the final few minutes of their contested battle, she elevated the level of her play to match the intensity of the moment. She scored two three-pointers and a lay-up in the final two minutes of the game—the last three-spot which came with six seconds remaining—to tie the score. The game was forced into overtime, where the hungry Lions promptly devoured the Big Red.

“At Cornell in the first half, I was struggling with the new defense we have,” Kern said. “The coaches told me at halftime to not think so much and instead to play and react, and I just adjusted, allowing myself to gain more open looks at the basket. In the second half I got into a good frame of mind, and a higher confidence helped me shoot better.”

Kern’s confidence may indeed factor into her performance, but her work ethic and dedication figure more prominently into her play.

“Susan actually asked us quite a few times if we would stay after practice and rebound for her,” Coach Butler said. “It wasn’t something that we required her to do, but she wanted to stay after practice and shoot more. That extra boost that she gave herself is what will get her over the top.”

Although Kern may work harder than most players and also possess a gifted shot, there is one more element that is crucial to her success so far at Columbia: her sister. Patricia and Susan played basketball together for their whole lives, including high school, so it was a near certainty that Susan would follow in her sister’s footsteps.

“The transition from high school to college basketball was tough at first, because everyone is so much stronger and faster,” Kern said. “But I think having a sister on the team who I am really comfortable with helped give me confidence and helped me to deal with the pressure. She wanted me to come to Columbia ever since my junior year; she actually threatened me a few times when I was being recruited by other Ivies.”

Coach Butler believes that the siblings’ natural chemistry has transformed their play on the court. Yet he also speculates that it may cause Susan unnecessarily to intervene in her progress. The Kerns are simply familiar with each other’s styles of play.

“Susan Kern looks at her sister as being one of the leaders of the time, and I wonder if sometimes she doesn’t want to step on her sister’s toes and steal the limelight,” Butler said, “[Nevertheless], the whole team growth process is accelerated when you have teammates who are familiar with each other. It makes the team that much easier to develop.

“I knew that their connection was really going to be a positive one,” he continued, “Evidence of their understanding actually happened three weeks into October during practice. They had to be on the same team in scrimmage practice,q

and there were two or three times when they simply connected. The plays were not designed by me or anyone else; they were just familiar with each other’s styles and they pulled off some sweet plays.”

Kern is one member of a talented first-year class, arguably one of the top recruiting classes CU has seen in recent memory. The women are all friends, too.

“Our class is one of the closest classes on the team, and we have a lot of on the court/off the court chemistry,” Kern said. “We get along well, and that translates into success.”

As for her relationship with her sister, Susan Kern has some choice words: “Thanks, sis, for being my encouragement. Whenever I’m not shooting well, you’re always there telling me to get on with it and not think about it.”