Reluctant at first basketball star, Emily DuPont, takes on challenges within her basketball career as she holds the title of player of the week not only once, but twice.
Basketball wasn’t always Emily’s top priority.
Originally, softball was her ideal plan. She chose Neumann, as it was the only school that offered her the opportunity to play both basketball and softball. Even though she was on the basketball team, she still liked softball better.
DuPont commented on being recruited for basketball, “I wanted to quit but in high school, I got looked at by Neumann. The coach came to one of my games and started talking to me. That kinda gave me some confidence and I thought maybe I can play in college.”
She had doubts and wanted to quit playing basketball due to academic reasons. Despite those feelings, she decided to stick it through.
Coach Mary Beth McNichol knew she wanted DuPont on her team when she saw her play in high school.
“I loved her game!” she said in an email. “I found out she was looking at Neumann. She was being recruited for softball. I immediately reached out because she was a really good basketball player. Emily is so athletic and has the basketball skills to be a very good college player. We were thrilled she decided to come and play both.”
“As I continued to play for Neumann, I realized how much I enjoyed playing basketball and wanted to continue to play here. I stuck with it and then over these three years, I fell in love with it.”
DuPont, who ended up quitting softball, set her sight solely on hoops. But life on the court hasn’t always been easy.
She struggled with injuries throughout her time playing at Neumann.
“This is her first full season, and she has stepped up big time both on the court and off the court,” McNichol explained.
Now, following an appearance in the Atlantic East Championship, DuPont is getting ready to wrap up her junior season. A final senior year sits on the horizon.
“It's crazy to think I'm a junior, getting ready to be a senior cause I feel like I just got here. I didn’t play much my freshman year, so I’ve only had these two years to play. Hopefully, I can lead the team and I’m excited to see what we can do,” she said.
Because of her experience playing at Neumann, she says she learned some valuable lessons.
“I think I also gained a lot of leadership through the sport on and off the court. I'm a junior, an upperclassman, and I try to look out for the underclassmen and lead by example,” she said.
“Never giving up is a big lesson I learned and hope to teach others. I came from barely playing my freshman year, only playing a few minutes, to starting almost every game my sophomore year. I worked very hard to get to the point I am, and I would do the same thing again if I needed to.”
DuPont makes it evident that she cares a lot about the people around her.
“I’m a very friend and family-oriented person and I really value the relationships I make. That’s something very important about me,” she said.
Her favorite part about being on the basketball team is building relationships with the players and coaches.
“I’ve become really close to a lot of the girls on the team and that's something I look forward to going to the practices and games,” she said.
Looking forward past Neumann, DuPont hopes to get her Bachelor of Science in nursing, go to graduate school, and become a nurse practitioner. Given her caring nature, a life pursuit in the nursing field isn’t too surprising.
