WILMINGTON — Lacey Suggs will have a unique skill set when she graduates from UNC Wilmington.
She’s majoring in exercise science and quite the basketball player, having been one of the best to don an East Bladen High School uniform. She’s the example of hard work reaping significant rewards, of never giving up, and of lifting others around her to better performances.
“I just give my best. I do what I need to do when I need to do it,” she says in describing the best part of her game.
Selfless hard work doesn’t get a column in the box score. It does get a prominent place in Karen Barefoot’s program, where high fives, floor burns and emitting positive energy are the norm and never the exception.
“One thing I was always taught from coaches is to play as hard as you can,” the second-year head coach says. “Even if out-matched, go hard. I was always the gym rat — leave last, be early at film meetings. I saw that in Lacey.
“She does all the little things that makes a difference in turning a program around, and winning in general. She has a lot of heart. We try to recruit high character kids that have heart. She’ll do anything we ask — play the smallest player, play the tallest player; that’s what she does.”
East Bladen coaches, like soccer coach Jay Raynor, tell how Suggs was more thrilled to assist a teammate scoring — even if Suggs could have scored a hat trick or more in a game. Football coach Robby Priest has stories about Suggs setting the example in his weight room class — “She was the only girl not intimidated by lifting with the boys,” he adds. He wanted her to kick extra points and field goals.
And Patty Evers, the Eagles’ basketball coach who added 106 wins to her stellar resume with Suggs on the roster, marvels at the matching characteristics of her former player and Barefoot, a coach she’s known for years.
Freshman years can be tough in college. Suggs, who walked on, found herself in a mere three games.
Three. Seven minutes of game action. Not even all the blowouts of an 11-19 campaign.
A year later, Barefoot had arrived. So did Suggs.
She got the most votes to be a team captain from players, coaches and support staff in October. Before Christmas at the coach’s house, emotions flowed when she was awarded a scholarship. This year, captain again. Plus her image has been splashed onto the city’s transit system buses and a Market Street billboard advertising season tickets.
Teammates, she says with a shy grin, have ribbed her about that. She’s OK with the love. When things didn’t go well the first year, she says it was her teammates who got her through.
For the 5-foot-10 junior, it doesn’t matter that most of her first-year teammates are no longer on the roster. She’s all in.
“I want to be there for everyone,” she said. “Coming from not playing my freshman year, to playing every game and being a captain, I have to step up a lot. It was hard for me to be a leader and have a voice. But as time has gone on, I’ve become more comfortable with it.”
And this from a player who was thrice all-state and league player of the year in high school basketball, with 2,166 points and 829 rebounds, plus less three-time all-conference in softball.
“High school and college is completely different,” said Suggs, the daughter of White Lake’s Karen and Mike Suggs. “You’re playing with better players. Being a leader at a more competitive level is tougher than in high school where talent is not as good.”
In the least of surprises, like any other part of her game, she’s working on it. She readily admits she leads more by example, but adds, “Coach Barefoot and I talk about how I need to improve” on the voice part.
“What I like about Lacey, she’s very coachable, she’s solid to the core of who she is,” Barefoot said. “She’s very loyal. You can win with those kind of people.”
UNCW averaged 22 losses a year in the five before Barefoot arrived. The Seahawks were 12-19 a year ago, got a major overhaul of the roster and are 6-4 entering Sunday’s game at East Carolina. They’re unbeaten at home in five outings, and in the last two years are 11-0 at home against nonconference foes.
Coaches in the Colonial Athletic Association know what is happening in the Port City; UNCW was picked seventh in the 10-team league this year. The program is trending up.
“We’re deep,” Suggs said. “We’re competitive in practices. Practices are fun. They get a little heated, and that’s what you want. Practices this year compared to last year have gone up another level. That’s where we’ve gotten better, because of our competitive practices.”
And when those end, Suggs doesn’t stop.
“Whatever we can’t get done in practice, she’s always trying to make sure she’s prepared for her team,” Barefoot said, alluding to late-night phone calls and early morning visits. “She’s asking questions like, ‘Is this the only person I’m going to guard? Am I going to guard someone else?’ That’s who she is. That’s her brand.
“It’s fun to be able to coach those kinds of players. She doesn’t care if she starts or comes off the bench. Last year she came off the bench and was a spark. And this year, she starts and we get that spark early. We don’t want to wait for that energy.”
And that box score? Seahawks fans have learned it is not a barometer for Suggs.
“Nobody will know she shoots a bad percentage or has a bad game because she plays so hard. Its contagious,” Barefoot said. “When she gets a floor burn, or goes to the basket and gets an and-one, she doesn’t care. She’ll sacrifice her body. She’s going to take it to you. There’s no bad night for her because she’s going to play hard.”
Barefoot calls Suggs the definition of teal collar effort.
And Suggs? “I just give my best. I do what I need to do when I need to do it.”
Hard work was never defined better.
UNC Wilmington’s pitch to fans for season tickets included Lacey Suggs and Devontae Cacok from the men’s program.
Lacey Suggs walked on at UNC Wilmington, playing just seven minutes of three games her freshman season. Before her sophomore season even tipped off, her teammates, coaches and staff had elected her a captain. She later earned a scholarship and this year was voted a captain again.