Lauren Ware put off choosing between volleyball or basketball for as long as she could.
It wasn’t until after the NCAA women’s basketball tournament — and after she talked with UA volleyball coach Dave Rubio — that it became clear.
Ware will only play basketball during the 2021-22 season after doing the same as a true freshman. Ware says she isn’t giving up volleyball completely, and may rejoin the team for her junior year.
“There were a lot of signs along the way that were leading me to this moment of, ‘I think basketball is my thing,’” Ware said.”I think it’s just a bunch of signs knowing that I can really be good at this if I just focused on this sport and just really put all my time into it. I think that made it a little easier for me.”
The 6-foot-5-inch Ware came to Arizona from North Dakota with the plan to play both sports. She would train with the volleyball team during the summer, play for Dave Rubio in the fall, and then take a few weeks off before joining Adia Barnes’ basketball team in December.
Then COVID-19 hit and the college volleyball season was moved to the spring. The coaches and Ware decided she would play only basketball in her freshman year.
Ware — and the Wildcats — succeeded. She led the UA with 30 blocks and finished fourth on the team with 3.8 rebounds per game, and was named to the Pac-12 freshman team’s honorable mention. Following the season, she was invited to try out for Team USA’s U19 World Cup team. She is a finalist with another opportunity to make the squad in July.
Ware said she decided to focus on basketball before she knew about the possibility of joining Team USA. It was more about contributing to a UA team that’s trying to build off its first-ever Final Four and appearance in the national championship game.
“We’re going to be a much different team … I think I have a really good chance to be a key player next year,” Ware said.
Still, the decision wasn’t easy. Ware had committed to Rubio and her teammates on the volleyball team and she was determined to made good on it. Rubio said Ware is “a person of her word.”
“But when I gave her the green light that I’m OK with it, I think that was a relief for her,” Rubio said. “I think this is the best thing. My biggest concern was doing what’s best for Lauren and giving everything she can — all of her energies to basketball.
“I was the one that really talked to Lauren about how important it was going to be for her to stay with basketball for this next year. And the reason I said that was because Aari McDonald cast such a big shadow that everyone’s role on the team now is going to be different (with her gone). I think it’s important that Lauren establishes a role from the very beginning of when they start training. If she played volleyball, she would be coming in about two months late — if not later — than when the team starts training. Then all of those roles are going to be established by the time she got there. It would take her another full season just to try to re-establish her role on the team.
“My fear for Lauren was that she wasn’t going to get out of basketball what she wanted to get. … I encouraged her to play basketball. There’s no question she wants to play volleyball. But I understood the rationale. I think she was already thinking that before I even mentioned anything.”
Barnes said she and Rubio “care about Lauren as a student-athlete more than winning. We (both) wanted what’s best for her.”
That is exactly why Ware said she came to Arizona.
“Dave’s just an amazing person. I would never expect him to force me to do anything,” Ware said. “He’s just really understanding of what I wanted to do coming in. He really helped me make this decision. He watched a lot of the games — he saw, and he knew I what I wanted was not having to miss out on basketball, not being at that disadvantage. He knew how important that was to me. He made the decision easier and was supportive of me.”
