TicketsFeb. 21, 2011
By Garrett Sabelhaus
GoBEARCATS.com
Shareese Ulis is the last person that wants sympathy or to use her knees as an excuse.
She really doesn't need an excuse for her two seasons of basketball at the University of Cincinnati which is shortly coming to a close.
The senior, who will graduate from UC in the spring with a Sociology degree, is nearing her final three regular-season games.
When it's all said and done, she'll have started every game she's been a part of as a Bearcat, amassing over 2,000 minutes in that span all with knees head coach Jamelle Elliott has referred to as 70 years old.
"It's extremely hard to have to come out and suffer through hour and a half and two hour practices every day with one day off a week and then to have to play almost 40 minutes a game," Elliott said. "It's almost like a job. Her job is to come to practice every day; her job is to play in games every day and that's just the job ahead of her. If the situation was different and she was just an everyday student at UC, I doubt if this kid would even work out because of the strain on her knees."
Elliott constantly tried to put Ulis in situations to keep her as comfortable and fresh as possible, but that's hard when she's averaged 35 minutes per game over two seasons.
Ulis would be rubbed down in timeout huddles throughout games and would have to take injections to calm swelling two days prior to games just to be able to play.
But bad knees or not, Ulis has been the best player for the Bearcats, averaging a team-high 13.4 points per game. Last season, in her first at UC after transferring from Trinity Valley Community College in Texas, she finished second on the team in scoring with 11.4 points per game.
She has also put together an impressive streak of scoring a three-pointer in 27 straight games dating back to last season.
Despite the numbers, Ulis knows her playing career will come to an end after the season.
"It's going to be kind of a sad moment because I'm graduating, but I've been able to do some things a lot of the people I've grown up with weren't able to do," Ulis said. "I wouldn't say I'm ready for it to be over but I also understand the situation with my knees."
Ulis has undergone three surgeries on her knees including having both her knees worked on at the same time following her junior year. She says it was a challenge battling back from the injuries but going through it made her tougher.
"Just getting the mental mindset that I could go back out and play again after having to go through all that was a challenge and actually going through the games, playing 40 minutes and trying to stay healthy to give my team what they needed was the ultimate challenge. (But) I was able to overcome that and I'm still playing today," she said.
After graduation Ulis wants to try to land a graduate assistant position to begin a possible coaching career which she and Elliott think she can excel at.