EDITOR’S NOTE: Each week The Volante sports staff will interview a member of the USD athletic community and ask them off-the-wall questions. Enjoy the hilarity.
Amber Hegge is a sophomore for the USD women’s basketball team. She is ninth all-time in career blocks with 56.
Justin Rust: I have heard a rumor that you can dunk a tennis ball.
Amber Hegge: I don’t know if I would call that true. I haven’t done that since high school. It was the summer I graduated I did it, but that it’s all that cool to say I dunked a tennis ball.
JR: Is there any chance you can dunk a basketball?
AH: No, I have really small hands and can’t palm the ball. Plus, I can’t jump high enough. There isn’t much hope.
JR: When you played with the Hoffman twins, did they ever try and trick the team on who they were?
AH: Oh yeah. I don’t know if they intentionally did it. The first time, it was the summer before my freshmen year. They were on different teams and Jeana was on my team, but Jenna put her hands up to me and she shot a lay-up and made it. They sometimes did it as a joke. It was pretty funny sometimes, because I had no idea who was who.
JR: You were recruited by the University of Nebraska and Iowa State University. How excited are you to play them?
AH: I’m really excited. It will be fun playing in my home state and both are prestigious programs, so it will be exciting to play against them.
JR: Now, are you a Husker fan since you are from Nebraska?
AH: I am. I can say that now after they won this weekend. Sometimes I don’t like to be.
JR: Now, I am a Cyclone fan, so I have bragging rights over the Huskers for one.
AH: How’s the Big 12 North for you? That’s what we have going for us now. But it’s a sad day when Nebraska loses to Iowa State.
JR: In the game in Yankton, your high school coach Aaron Losing was brought in for the halftime entertainment. Did you hear about it?
AH: Yeah, he actually won the competition. I didn’t know he had too many skills yet. He has bragging rights because he beat his own player, Jordan Sanger. I haven’t talked to him since then, but I should give him some crap next time I see him.
JR: What is the most popular thing to do in Crofton, Neb.?
AH: That’s pretty tough. I don’t really know. Maybe spotlighting? This time of year it’s just hunting.
JR: What is spotlighting?
AH: You just drive around with a spotlight, and try and find animals. You can’t have a weapon in your car, but some people do, and you just drive around and shoot things, or just look at them. It’s the thing to do in Crofton.
JR: Who is the biggest practical jokester on the team?
AH: I would say the biggest one is Theresa Case. She is definitely the jokester on the squad.
JR: What is the funniest thing she has done?
AH: There isn’t one thing I can really remember right now. It’s mainly a bunch of things she has done. She is always joking around.
JR: Do you guys ever take on Williams in a shooting contest since he is a former player?
AH: No, he hasn’t really challenged us. Last year he tried to high jump though. He doesn’t break out his basketball skills too often.
JR: How was his high jump?
AH: I think he might have cleared four foot maybe. I am pretty sure he cleared it. Actually, we will just say he cleared it. He does have a bad knee, so it was somewhat impressive.
Reach reporter Justin Rust at Justin.Rust@usd.edu
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