Lady Knight set to take flight as a Notre Dame College Lady Falcon
Averaging 13 points and 10.5 rebounds through the Lady Knights (14-2) first 16 games, while carrying a perfect 4.0 grade point average in the classroom, Snyder earned both athletic and academic scholarships to attend Notre Dame College, where she plans to study early childhood education in hopes of someday returning to teach in the West Holmes school district.
At Notre Dame, Snyder will play under 10th year head coach Dick Deasy for a Lady Falcons team that is in its final season of competition in the American Mideast Conference (AMC) of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), before completing its transition into a full-fledged NCAA Division II program in 2011-12.
Talking about the factors that led to her choosing Notre Dame College, while turning down offers from other schools, including, Baldwin Wallace College, Capital University and Mount Union College, Snyder said, "Obviously the money was a factor. The girls up there are super-nice, I know some of them, I've played with some of them in AAU and in the regular season. They're just all nice girls and I like the coaches up there. It's near Cleveland, and I like that too. It's in a nice neighborhood and there's good shopping."
All important essentials when choosing the right school.
Said Deasy, whose assistant coach, Lisa Verhoff-Medvetz, began recruiting Snyder early in the school year, "She's a good, aggressive, hard-working player that is strong and can get up-and-down the floor and play defense, and that's what we like in a kid. She was a person that Lisa actually saw very early and kept pushing her, and when she went down to try to recruit her she found that she was exactly what she thought she would be."
While the Snyder family relied on advice from a select group of people during a sometimes difficult decision making process – including Wadsworth High School head basketball coach and head coach of Snyder's AAU [Amateur Athletic Union] team, Andy Booth, along with close family friend and former West Holmes and Ohio State University basketball legend, Lisa Cline – current West Holmes head coach Lisa Patterson (who played collegiately for Walsh University) said, "It can bring tears to my eyes if I think about it. What a dream. A year or so ago she decided she wanted to play something and I am ecstatic that she has chosen to play basketball because she's a kid that loves the physicalness of the game. When you jump from high school to college everybody always talks about it's hard to adjust to the physicalness. I think Lindsy will be just fine, I really do."
Talking further about the fact that Snyder didn't even play varsity basketball as a freshman but managed to develop herself into an elite post player, Patterson added, "There is not any kid that is going to outwork her," touching on an incredible work-ethic instilled and promoted by both of Snyder's parents.
"I'm proud of what she has accomplished in her high school career," said Snyder's father, Kirk Snyder. "This just shows what a little hard work can do for a person. I hope other kids follow her lead."
Echoed Snyder's mother, and former West Holmes post player during the Lady Knights undefeated State championship winning seasons of 1983-84 and 1984-85, Shane Snyder, "This proves her hard work is going to pay off. Her persistence and perseverance, in the end, have absolutely benefited her. Other kids thinking about giving up, look at Lindsy, now she's going to get an education through her hard work."
And that work ethic was a major part of what attracted Deasy and the Lady Falcons staff to the 17-year-old from Millersburg, along with Snyder's outstanding character.
"We're an up-and-down team," explained Deasy. "We are a full-court press. We trap a lot. We run and jump. We do everything we can defensively. We're a very strong defensive team and she plays very good defense and she's also a very good defensive rebounder. She's got good hands and she can run the floor. We use our post significantly in our fast break and we felt she would fit in very well there.
"We're a team. We don't have all the drama problems and all that because we try to pick kids and we tell them from the day they come in, this is a team environment. We preach team, we only care that everybody works hard, hustles up-and-down the floor and plays defense."
All hallmarks of Lindsy Snyder, who after making the verbal commitment said, "It's a lot of weight lifted off my shoulders. Now that I made my decision, I can just concentrate on the rest of this year and finishing out this year good."
Having earned a top seeding in the upcoming Division II Dresden 1 District Tournament, Snyder and the Lady Knights will look to stay perfect in Ohio Cardinal Conference play when they host Mansfield Madison, Thursday, Feb. 10, in the Dungeon.
Meanwhile, the Lady Falcons host Cedarville on Feb. 10, looking to improve to 21-6 on the season.
"Next year, me and my coaches at Notre Dame have talked about coming in and working hard to get significant playing time," said Lindsy Snyder. "That won't be a problem for me to come in and work hard and I think I'll be successful if I keep working hard up there."
No doubt about it.
Published: February 7, 2011
