Elite Eight Showdown Delivers ‘Perfect’ Ali Patberg Journey
3/28/2021 9:48:00 PM | Women's Basketball
By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com
Ali Patberg is right where she wants to be, on the verge of an Elite Eight showdown with Arizona, and where, once, she never thought she'd be as an Indiana Hoosier.
"My journey has been very different," the 5-11 senior guard says. "But, you know, it's been perfect."
Perfect takes many forms, and it doesn't include perfection, but that isn't the point.
Struggles are part of life and basketball. Without it, you might not appreciate the good times when they arrive, and you'd better believe they have arrived for Patberg and the Cream and Crimson.
The fourth-seeded Hoosiers are 21-5 and winners of 12 of their last 13 games. They are a Monday night victory away from a Final Four appearance, three away from -- yes -- a national championship.
Patberg appreciates every sweat-and-tear moment of it.
"This is a dream to play for Indiana," she says. "I grew up right down the road. I'm a Hoosier. This means the world to me."
It wasn't always so.
Patberg began a Notre Dame Fighting Irish after an Indiana Miss Basketball prep career at Columbus North High School, and for a number of reasons, including a torn ACL, that didn't work out. Coach Teri Moren says Patberg arrived "broken."
She's not broken now. Instead, she breaks opponents.
Case in point -- the 17 points, five assists and three rebounds worth of hurt she put on top-seed North Carolina State Saturday night.
"She's been an unbelievable leader for this group," Moren says. "Unbelievable. None of this is possible without Ali Patberg and the leadership she provides."
Patberg's scoring and rebounding have decreased in each of her three Hoosier seasons even as the victories have gone up, a testament to her playmaking skills. Still, she's at 13.9 points and 4.0 rebounds, with 86 assists against 41 turnovers.
"She makes everybody else around her better," Moren says. "But I think most importantly Ali makes people feel important, really special. When you're in her presence, she is all about you. She doesn't get distracted. She wants to get to know someone on a personal level."
Emotions hit Patberg in the aftermath of the North Carolina State upset. Of course they did. You have no chance if you don't play with passion, if you don't care, if you don't understand the importance of team over individual and what can be accomplished when everyone is in it together.
"I had a lot of hard battles early on," she says. "I got injured. I transferred. But Indiana believed in me. At times, I didn't question myself, but I lost a lot of confidence in my ability to play the game of basketball."
Coming to Indiana changed that.
"I could tell that the coaching staff and the program were different," Patberg says. "They're unique. They were going to put in the same work that I wanted to put in."
Moren and her staff demand without coddling. They push without demeaning. They want players who want the best for themselves and their teammates.
They want, in short, players such as Patberg.
"Ali Patberg is one of the best kids I will ever coach," Moren says. "When I say that, I mean her character, how she's been raised, the respect level she has for her staff and for her team."
When Patberg arrived, the Hoosiers worked with her as much emotionally as physically. Assistant coach Glenn Box, who focuses on the guards, was at the forefront.
"We just loved on her," Moren says. "We tried to build her up every day.She is a passionate kid. She loves being in the gym. We went to work with her.
"As long as she had somebody that was willing to work and be in the gym with her and love on her and laugh with her, again, we just watched her sort of blossom in front of us to the kid I watched in high school who played so fearlessly at Columbus North, was an emotional leader."
Now comes third-seeded Arizona, which is coming off a 74-59 victory over second-seed Texas A&M. It has made dramatic improvement under coach Adia Barnes, going from 6-24 in 2018 to 24-13 (with a WNIT title) in 2019, then 24-7 and now 19-5.
The Wildcats are led by Pac-12 Player of the Year Aari McDonald, who averages 19.8 points and 5.2 rebounds along with a team-leading 103 assists.
Other key contributors are forwards Cate Reese (11.4 points, 5.4 rebounds) and Trinity Baptist (8.5, 6.0).
"It's going to be another game for us. It doesn't matter who's on the other sideline. It's about my kids and those wearing Indiana across their chests. It's not Indiana against Bendu. It's Indiana against Arizona. That's what our focus is."
Focus starts with good guard play, and Patberg figures to be at the forefront in a journey that might have a championship ending.
"I had a plan -- I didn't have a plan, because I transferred, but I wouldn't have it any other way. To be where I'm at with this team, it's a dream come true to play for IU.
"It came full circle for me. I'm thankful that I have the opportunity to wear this jersey and be out there with my teammates and play for amazing coaches."
Moren is just as thankful.
"It's been such a pleasure to coach her, watch her, be a part of her journey."
Players Mentioned
Guard
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