Indiana University Athletics
Having Fun – Senior Amanda Cahill Makes Her Basketball Mark
11/9/2017 3:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com
Amanda Cahill as role model.
It's happening now whenever the Indiana Hoosiers hit the basketball court.
It could take a big jump in a future beyond basketball.
Cahill is a dominant senior forward on a young team that needs it. But she's also well positioned to make her mark in the classroom -- as an elementary school teacher.
"Communicating and helping others figure things out is what I want to do with my life," she says.
Cahill figures well enough to have earned CoSIDA Academic All-America honors last season courtesy of a 3.90 grade point average. She also made academic All-Big Ten.
"I enjoy little kids," she says. "You can have a big impact in their lives. It's such a vulnerable time in life where it's very easy to make an impact. I want to have a positive impact on them."
The 6-2 Cahill has certainly made a big impact for the Hoosiers.
She is one of 20 players in the running for the Cheryl Miller Award, which goes to the nation's top small forward.
Her 1,321 career points ranks 15th in school history. She should easily crack the top 10 and perhaps the top 5, with a big final season. Only five other players top her 820 career rebounds. Denise Jackson has the record of 1,273.
She's the sixth Hoosier to total 1,300 points and 800 rebounds.
Last season Cahill averaged 8.9 rebounds and 14.8 points a game while shooting 47.7 percent from the field, including a team-best 39.3 percent from three-point range.
But those are just numbers to reflect the passion.
"I like the team sport element of basketball," she says. "How fast-paced it is. I've grown up around it. I've developed a basketball IQ about it, just thinking the game. I think that's fun."
Cahill grew up in a basketball environment. Her father, John, is a long-time high school coach. She played for him at Clyde High School in Ohio, which is near Cleveland (which explains her love for the NBA's Cavaliers), and you'd better believe the relationship worked.
They combined for a 99-6 basketball record with two Ohio state tourney Final Four appearances. Cahill totaled more than 2,000 career points and more than 1,000 career rebounds.
As for any drama in playing for her father, well, there was none.
"We did a good job leaving all the basketball stuff on the court and not taking it home," she says.
"It was a lot of fun."
Fun equals winning and Cahill did plenty of that outside of basketball. She was a tennis standout who reached the state tourney quarterfinals in doubles as a senior. She went 34-2 in that last year, including 9-0 in singles.
Cahill still occasionally breaks out the tennis racquet. She and Indiana teammate Tyra Buss, also a high school tennis standout, sometimes play doubles together.
Cahill and Buss are the foundation of IU's youthful team seeking a third straight postseason appearance under coach Teri Moren. They set record-setting examples that should generate Hoosier benefits for years to come.
"You've got to earn your respect," Moren says, "and these are two kids who have always spent a lot of time in the gym. They've always done more than we've asked them to in getting their own game better, knowing they would help the team get better.
"They've really grown into tremendous leaders. I think they both feel this is their team."
It starts with work ethic.
"It's them buying in that the idea that the eight hours we get in the off-season and the 20 hours we get in the season will never be enough," Moren says. "You have to find time in a busy schedule to balance academics and being an athlete. Can I figure out how to get in the gym and work on my craft?
"That's a commitment. You have to have a discipline. They both have always had that. They're honest with themselves where they want to see their games grow.
"It's easy to work on things you're good at. The difference with kids like Amanda and Tyra is that they do intentional work – they try to improve the areas of their games that need to grow."
One area of Cahill's game that is already well grown is rebounding. It's a life-long skill she continues to exploit. The preseason All-Big Ten choice had four rebounds in 20 minutes of exhibition action against Gannon on Monday night.
"The biggest thing is trying to anticipate where the ball will go off the rim," she says. "It's reading the shot. Having been around basketball so much, that helps a lot. I just want to be first to the ball."
Action starts for real Saturday when IU hosts Arkansas State in the season opener. Cahill aims to be ready.
"I'm looking forward to having a good senior year. Just enjoying it. That's the big thing. It's my last year in college. I want to have fun."
IUHoosiers.com
Amanda Cahill as role model.
It's happening now whenever the Indiana Hoosiers hit the basketball court.
It could take a big jump in a future beyond basketball.
Cahill is a dominant senior forward on a young team that needs it. But she's also well positioned to make her mark in the classroom -- as an elementary school teacher.
"Communicating and helping others figure things out is what I want to do with my life," she says.
Cahill figures well enough to have earned CoSIDA Academic All-America honors last season courtesy of a 3.90 grade point average. She also made academic All-Big Ten.
"I enjoy little kids," she says. "You can have a big impact in their lives. It's such a vulnerable time in life where it's very easy to make an impact. I want to have a positive impact on them."
The 6-2 Cahill has certainly made a big impact for the Hoosiers.
She is one of 20 players in the running for the Cheryl Miller Award, which goes to the nation's top small forward.
Her 1,321 career points ranks 15th in school history. She should easily crack the top 10 and perhaps the top 5, with a big final season. Only five other players top her 820 career rebounds. Denise Jackson has the record of 1,273.
She's the sixth Hoosier to total 1,300 points and 800 rebounds.
Last season Cahill averaged 8.9 rebounds and 14.8 points a game while shooting 47.7 percent from the field, including a team-best 39.3 percent from three-point range.
But those are just numbers to reflect the passion.
"I like the team sport element of basketball," she says. "How fast-paced it is. I've grown up around it. I've developed a basketball IQ about it, just thinking the game. I think that's fun."
Cahill grew up in a basketball environment. Her father, John, is a long-time high school coach. She played for him at Clyde High School in Ohio, which is near Cleveland (which explains her love for the NBA's Cavaliers), and you'd better believe the relationship worked.
They combined for a 99-6 basketball record with two Ohio state tourney Final Four appearances. Cahill totaled more than 2,000 career points and more than 1,000 career rebounds.
As for any drama in playing for her father, well, there was none.
"We did a good job leaving all the basketball stuff on the court and not taking it home," she says.
"It was a lot of fun."
Fun equals winning and Cahill did plenty of that outside of basketball. She was a tennis standout who reached the state tourney quarterfinals in doubles as a senior. She went 34-2 in that last year, including 9-0 in singles.
Cahill still occasionally breaks out the tennis racquet. She and Indiana teammate Tyra Buss, also a high school tennis standout, sometimes play doubles together.
Cahill and Buss are the foundation of IU's youthful team seeking a third straight postseason appearance under coach Teri Moren. They set record-setting examples that should generate Hoosier benefits for years to come.
"You've got to earn your respect," Moren says, "and these are two kids who have always spent a lot of time in the gym. They've always done more than we've asked them to in getting their own game better, knowing they would help the team get better.
"They've really grown into tremendous leaders. I think they both feel this is their team."
It starts with work ethic.
"It's them buying in that the idea that the eight hours we get in the off-season and the 20 hours we get in the season will never be enough," Moren says. "You have to find time in a busy schedule to balance academics and being an athlete. Can I figure out how to get in the gym and work on my craft?
"That's a commitment. You have to have a discipline. They both have always had that. They're honest with themselves where they want to see their games grow.
"It's easy to work on things you're good at. The difference with kids like Amanda and Tyra is that they do intentional work – they try to improve the areas of their games that need to grow."
One area of Cahill's game that is already well grown is rebounding. It's a life-long skill she continues to exploit. The preseason All-Big Ten choice had four rebounds in 20 minutes of exhibition action against Gannon on Monday night.
"The biggest thing is trying to anticipate where the ball will go off the rim," she says. "It's reading the shot. Having been around basketball so much, that helps a lot. I just want to be first to the ball."
Action starts for real Saturday when IU hosts Arkansas State in the season opener. Cahill aims to be ready.
"I'm looking forward to having a good senior year. Just enjoying it. That's the big thing. It's my last year in college. I want to have fun."
Players Mentioned
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