Anchling becomes vocal leader for USU
For Julianne Anchling, a seasoned senior on the Utah State University women’s basketball team, struggling in conference play is a challenge that she didn’t deal with in her early years of college basketball.
Before playing with Utah State, Anchling played for Trinity Community College in Athens, Texas for two years. During those two years, she contributed to the team’s two consecutive NJCAA championships.
After the success she saw in Texas, coming to a young, growing program in a small conference in the NCAA where she and the Aggies went 8-23 last season has been a challenge.
Anchling knew that the program would be diffrent, both structurally and competitively, but after her recruit visit to Logan she was convinced it was the best choice for her.
“USU was my first visit, and at first I was just going to use it as a point of reference,” Anchling said. “When I arrived here and saw the facilities and the mountains and the coaching style, I fell in love with the place. I cancelled all my other visits because I would not miss this opportunity.”
Post coach and team recruiting coordinator, Ben Finkbeiner, played a big role in bringing Anchling to Logan.
“I first started recruiting her when I was at Boise State coaching there, then when I took this job at Utah State I already had a good relationship with her as a recruit.” Finkbeiner said. “Utah State had a need for her and Boise State didn’t take her. We decided to take her, and I’m sure glad we did.”
The coaching staff and atmosphere played a big role in her decision to play here in Logan, but what added more to that were the other foreign players like herself.
“In my junior college, I was the only foreigner, and it was really hard,” Anchling said.
She had never spoken English formally before coming and struggled to understand any of her teachers or classmates. She originally decided to come to the United States because in France, she would have had to choose between academics and basketball. That was something she couldn’t imagine doing.
While her success on the court was high for those first two years, the cultural struggles she faced off the court were very difficult for her to face. Even though she had supportive teammates who pushed her and helped her work through obstacles, Finkbeiner noted that the challenges she faced could have been enough to make her quit.
“If she wasn’t mature, she would have probably gone home in a year or two, but she is more mature than that and she stuck it out,” Finkbeiner said. “She’s a very goal-driven person, a very intense person, she’s got that intense competitor within her. There’s been plenty of times when she’s been homesick, but because of her intensity, she sticks it out.”
Anchling hasn’t won any titles with the Aggies, but she has realized that she has more to offer the team than athleticism alone. She has seen herself grow as a leader.
As one of the team’s three seniors this season, Anchling takes her role as a leader seriously. Coaches notice that she is one they can hear yelling on the court most often, sometimes at herself, sometimes at her teammates. She said it is still a learning process but because of the leaders she has had before, she will continue leading her team and supporting them as vocally as she does.
“It gives me chills just thinking about it. Even when I was at my lowest point, seeing others be so hyped and intense always brought me up,” said Anchling, as she reflected on the teammates that helped her when she first moved from France.
Those experiences are the ones that drive her to continue working for her team and keep her eyes on the Mountain West title that the USU will be playing for in the second week of March — something that would be familiar to Anchling.
There is just one more game for the Utah State before the tournament. The game is against Fresno State and it tips off at 7 p.m. in Fresno. After the final conference game, the Aggies will play in the MW tournament either Monday or Tuesday, depending on their seed.
— paige.a.cavaness@aggiemail.usu.edu
Twitter: @ususportspaige