Thomaskutty enjoyed a successful high school career, including garnering Street & Smith’s Honorable Mention All-America selection at Brewer, and received a lot of recruiting letters from colleges in Alabama. Only one AAU team from the state played in a national tournament,” she explained. “We had AAU and a few exposure camps, but not like it is today by any means. She did play on the girls’ team at Brewer High School as well as in AAU (Amateur Athletic Union), but those opportunities were limited by today’s standards. “My only exposure to basketball other than shooting around with my brothers and other guys was watching the Wednesday night SEC (Southeastern Conference) men’s game each week.” The boys went and asked my dad if I could play on the team,” she explained. Her first organized team was playing with boys, but it wasn’t she who asked her dad to let her play. One of the secretaries had similar-aged kids so we would all play from 8 a.m. “My dad was a principal so my little brother and I would go the gym at his school during the summer. After church, I would play with my older brother’s friends,” Thomaskutty recounted. “We had a hoop outside at our house so I would shoot with him. She spent a lot of time playing basketball with her brothers, which was appropriate since there were no organized teams for younger girls at the time. “They stressed education, education, education.” ![]() I was in junior high before my mom finished her post-graduate education,” she remembered. They worked all day and then were working toward masters or administration degrees at night. Two things dominated her childhood in the small town of Somerville, Alabama - basketball and education. It is amazing how quickly your life can turn around in 24 hours.” It was such an honor and so good for non-Division I schools, she described. ![]() “I was so excited to be named WBCA vice president. The following day she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. She was in line to become the first non-NCAA Division I coach to serve as WBCA president since 1999. Having completed her 14th year at the helm of Emory, Thomaskutty was selected as the next vice president of the WBCA (Women’s Basketball Coaches Association) on May 4, 2017. It was far from the first time the former NCAA Division I women’s basketball assistant coach and Division III Emory University head coach saw a dramatic change in her life and career in a matter of hours. The NBA (National Basketball Association) postponed its season on Wednesday and then more NCAA conferences were canceling the following day.” Thomaskutty conducting post-game interviews at what turned out to be her last game of 2020\ ![]() I went to Twitter first and saw that the Ivy had canceled the remainder of the championship. “I turned off my phone on the flight and after we landed, I turned my phone back on to a slew of texts. “I was at the Hartford (Connecticut) airport preparing to call the semifinals and finals of the Ivy League championship,” she recalled. ESPN analyst Christy Thomaskutty provided color commentary for the American Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Championship final on Monday, March 20, 2020, not knowing it would be the last game she would call in the 2019-20 season.
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