Dawgs Enjoy Time With Guest Speaker In PDX

By Athletic Communications on November 14, 2009 8:59 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

Portland, Ore. -- The Washington women's basketball team has had a packed schedule since arriving in the Rose City last night. After a team dinner, Coach Tia Jackson brought everyone back to the hotel to meet a distinguished speaker -- Howard White, vice president of marketing for the Jordan brand at Nike.

Mr. White spoke with the team for over an hour, regaling stories from his past (point guard at Maryland, now a business success) and offered examples of how successful athletes (such as Michael Jordan and Lance Armstrong, to name a few) overcame adversity to become champions.

During the preseason, Jackson gave her team White's book, "Believe to Achieve." She had the players write down their thoughts on the book, and then sent those responses to White, who said he was "humbled" by them.

White's mantra is that anyone who believes they will be successful will ultimately achieve their goals. Some other talking points included anecdotes about hard work, discipline and structure. Later, he challenged the team to not accept the bare-minimum. It was a thought-provoking segment.

This morning was a little more low-key. The Huskies took a short bus ride to Portland State's campus for shoot-around, and then had breakfast back at the hotel.

With tip-off in a few hours, make sure you follow @uw_wbb on Twitter for all the action.