SHARK IN THE WATER
By Chris Kowalczyk
1-14-10

VCU forward Courtney Hurt has been a Ram for a couple of years now, but this season, she’s learning to become a shark.

Rams’ Coach Beth Cunningham and her staff have selected the shark as the unofficial mascot of sorts for this year’s VCU squad. Every week, a player is honored for going above and beyond and giving the extra mile on the court. Cunningham sees it as a way to instill a predator’s instinct in her team and to avoid complacency after back-to-back 26-win seasons.

Last week, Hurt, a 6-0 sophomore, earned her very first “shark” award.

The honor served as a nod to Hurt’s rapid maturation this year and renewed commitment to hard work. It’s been a tough transition for the personable, but easygoing Hurt.

“The biggest thing I’m on her about all the time is playing hard,” Cunningham said. “When she plays hard, she gets results.”

Lately, that message has been coming through loud and clear. In her last five games, Hurt is averaging 16.2 points and 9.2 rebounds per game and has registered three double-doubles. She’s averaging 11.7 points and a team-best 7.6 rebounds for the season. Those are drastic progressions from her freshman year, when she provided 4.4 points and 4.5 rebounds.

On Sunday, Jan. 10, Hurt received her first starting assignment and responded with a career-high 26 points and 10 rebounds in a 75-51 rout of Towson.

“This is Division I basketball,” Hurt, a business major, said. “It’s not like high school, where sometimes you go through the motions. Every second you’re on the floor you have to work hard and just hustle. That’s my biggest thing. I had moments where I would relax. So now, I’m trying to be more aggressive and understand the game better.”  

Hurt’s emergence comes at a critical time for the Rams, who have used a cast of characters in the post in an effort to replace WNBA-Draftee Quanitra Hollingsworth.

“I told her. She deservedly earned that starting job on Sunday,” Cunningham said. “If she continues to play with that kind of intensity and that kind of focus, and has the kind of work ethic day in and day out at practice, it’ll be her starting job. But the minute that she doesn’t, we’re going to be a revolving door again.”

Meanwhile, Hurt is starting to sound like a player on the right path.

“The CAA’s a tough conference, and every possession matters,” She said. “I think that’s what [Coach Cunningham] is trying to get to me, because a lot of our games game down to one possession, literally.”

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