Box Score Throughout the year, GoIslanders.com's Christina Boothe will feature student-athletes from each
of our 15 sports. Every Monday, we will bring you a Q&A session with a student-athlete, while Wednesday we will feature an in-depth story of a student-athlete. Be sure to keep tabs on GoIslanders.com as well as our Facebook (Islanders Athletics) and Twitter/Instagram (Go_Islanders) pages throughout the year for more information.
Disaster struck the Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi's women's basketball team earlier this year when senior Shola Adebayo and sophomore Brittany Mbamalu suffered season-ending injuries, taking them out of the Islander playbook and placing them on the bench. With the loss, the Islanders also lost their team leader. Adebayo was the only senior on the team with former playing experience; she transferred from Eastern Oklahoma State Community College to play her final two seasons with the Islanders. After losing Adebayo, the team was looking for a leader, for someone to step up and fill the shoes she had left empty. That's when Olivia Fouty showed up.
Fouty, a fifth-year senior who spent the majority of her eligibility at Eastern Michigan University, transferred to the Island University to complete her final year of collegiate athletics. The 6-foot-0 forward came in with a team-centered attitude and immediately stepped up when she was needed. "I felt comfortable being a leader," she said. "I feel like it's my role on this team. I owe it to my teammates to be a leader for them."
Unsurprisingly, the Islanders made Fouty fit right in with the team dynamic. But it was up to Fouty to take initiative and make things work out for her final season. "My teammates are great and I've fit right in," she shared. "I feel like I've been here a lot longer than just the summer time, because my coaches and teammates have made me feel like family. When you transfer, you don't know how it's all going to work out. I came to the university wanting to win and earn a degree, but I'm also making memories that I'll never forget. I'm experiencing things that an average twenty-two year old doesn't get to, and I'm building friendships that will last a lifetime."
The gambling effect of a transfer can be difficult on student-athletes, but Fouty is confident that she put all of her chips on the right cards. 'There's always a chance that things don't go as planned," she discussed, "but it's everything that the coaches said it would be. I'm very happy I chose to attend this university for my final year -- Coach Chadwick told me numerous times while he was recruiting me that I have to make the right decision because this is my last go-around, and I believe that I did just that."
The outgoing senior has had more than enough experience to share, and her unusual story gives her an especially unique platform for discussion. For any young athlete hoping to continue their careers at the collegiate level, Fouty has some excellent advice. "The first piece of advice I would give is that players are made in the off-season," Fouty explained. "You have to use the off-season to work on your weaknesses and add other dimensions to your game. Be a gym rat. Don't ever be satisfied with where you are, because you can always be better at some area of your game. Lastly, give it your all. When you think you can't give anymore, dig deeper. Four years goes by so fast. You don't want to have any regrets."
