When coronavirus altered her plans, this Idaho senior chose to focus on life’s blessings
It was always going to be a memorable spring for University of Idaho senior Issy Hadden. But she thought it would be memorable for a very different reason.
The coronavirus pandemic forced an abrupt end to her college basketball career in March. She’s now finishing her undergraduate degree in broadcasting and digital media via computer from her childhood home in Boise. There won’t be a graduation ceremony in Moscow anytime soon, and her celebratory summer trip to Europe had to be canceled.
Each milestone is a moment in time Hadden can never get back.
“I definitely do have my down days, but I think the easiest way to get through this crazy time is just to try and have a positive attitude about everything,” Hadden said in a phone interview last week. “I just remind myself that I do have a lot of blessings in my life, and I’ve had some amazing experiences with basketball and in college.”
A basketball career without closure
On March 11, the Idaho women’s basketball team defeated Idaho State 66-51 in the semifinals of the Big Sky Tournament.
Hadden, a Boise High graduate, played one of the best games of her collegiate career with a large group of family and friends cheering her on at CenturyLink Arena in Boise. Hadden was named the player of the game and was selected to represent the team in postgame interviews.
“Issy came in and just gave us a huge spark offensively in the second half,” Idaho coach Jon Newlee told the Idaho Statesman in a phone interview. “She got a couple of shots in a row — maybe two or three big shots — that just got us going, because it had been a real defensive struggle.”
Hadden finished with an efficient 12 points on 6-for-9 shooting and pulled down five rebounds in just 15 minutes of action.
“Going into those last few games, I kept telling myself one of these games could be our last game ever, so I just wanted to leave everything out on the floor and not have any regrets,” Hadden said. “I think the biggest thing was just my mindset and just really not wanting to have my last game.”
With the victory over ISU, the second-seeded Vandals advanced to the Big Sky championship game against top-seeded Montana State. The two teams split their regular-season meetings, and Newlee and his squad were feeling confident.
“I just thought we were going to roll them, and we were going to the NCAA Tournament,” Newlee said. “That was our mindset. It was our team’s mindset afterwards. They all wanted to play Montana State. They knew that we were the better team, and we just were feeling great about the whole matchup.”
The championship that never was
Hadden and her teammates had just returned to their hotel after reading to students at a local elementary school in Meridian, unaware that conferences throughout the country had begun canceling their postseason basketball tournaments one by one because of the coronavirus.
“We got straight off the bus and went to a meeting with our coaching staff,” Hadden said. “All the bigwigs were there — our athletic director and the president of our university. We knew something big was happening. Then coach told us that the (championship) game was canceled and everyone just started sobbing.”
Their conference title hopes and a possible NCAA Tournament trip were erased in an instant.
“It was just devastating for all involved, but certainly for the seniors who will never get that chance again,” Newlee said. “The younger kids hopefully get that chance to be in that position again, but for the seniors, the finality, it was done. It was over.”
Picking up the pieces
The team bused back to Moscow the same day it received the devastating news.
The players stayed together that night at the home of sophomore guard Janie King and tried to enjoy one last night of bonding and commiseration before everyone had to go their separate ways.
Spring break was scheduled for the following week and school officials decided students would have to finish the spring semester online instead of in person.
“It’s definitely been a challenge, especially because I am a senior and I’m in kind of my more project-based classes,” Hadden said. “I started a class and I didn’t even meet the professor (in person). It’s completely been online, and we were supposed to have a lab every week where we do projects, and we obviously haven’t had that. There’s definitely a learning curve.”
Hadden also won’t get to finish her internship with Idaho’s athletic media relations department helping with spring sports coverage, including a weekly show about the Vandals’ spring teams.
“I know that others have far more serious issues … but I don’t want to downplay her grief,” said Sandy Winters, Hadden’s mother. “… I see her picking herself up and going, ‘OK, what’s the next step?’ I just admire her for that. I don’t know if when I was that young if I would have dealt with it that well.”
The blows keep coming
Hadden had already planned and booked a month-long trip to Europe this summer. She was scheduled to make stops in Spain, France, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Germany and Italy.
But the coronavirus upended those plans, too.
Idaho’s spring 2020 commencement ceremony also has been pushed back. Graduates have the option to walk in a ceremony on Aug. 1 in Moscow or in the December 2020 or May 2021 ceremonies.
Unemployment rates have skyrocketed across the country because of the pandemic, painting a bleak picture as Hadden prepares to enter the job market. She may reverse course and opt for graduate school instead.
“I was definitely still kind of deciding, but I feel like now I’ve just kind of been pushed into adulthood,” Hadden said. “I need to start making these decisions now. It just feels kind of more rushed.”
Inspiration in the storm
At the end of each season, Newlee usually invites his team to his home for a celebratory banquet.
With Gov. Brad Little’s stay-at-home order in place through April 30, the team had to settle for a virtual get-together last month.
Hadden was voted most inspirational by her teammates, and she shared the Vandal Award, which recognizes an individual who has excelled on and off the court, with fellow senior Lizzy Klinker.
“She was just a quiet leader, but a leader nonetheless. When she spoke, people listened,” Newlee said. “She really made sure that everyone was on the same page. … She’s not the fiery, yelling, screaming type leader, but really a strong quieter presence in the locker room and on the floor.”
Her college basketball career may be over, but Hadden hasn’t ceased being a leader. Somehow, she continues to find hope despite the hardships she’s encountered around every corner.
“There’s a lot of people out there who are really struggling right now, whether that’s financially or just all the people on the front lines and a bunch of people getting sick,” Hadden said. “Luckily, that hasn’t happened to me, so I just remind myself of my blessings and that life isn’t too bad right now.”
