Drake women's basketball senior Cortni Rush was always the tallest in her class growing up. In third grade, her physical education teacher suggested she give basketball a try for this reason alone.
After going out on a limb to simply give the sport a shot, basketball stuck with her. But as time grew, softball was neck-and-neck when it came to winning Rush's heart over. Needless to say, Spalding eventually won that battle.
"As I got to high school, the competitiveness dropped with softball," Rush said. "It was a lot different for basketball – I liked that aspect more.