Watching forward Erin Tack get after it on defense, you’d have no idea — albeit for a large brace on her right knee — that nearly a year ago, she joined the Arizona women’s basketball team as a walk-on and promptly tore her right ACL — for the second time.
The 6-1 junior, who also throws javelin for UA’s track and field team, looks more like a well-kept secret. Her skill on the court, her awareness of her assignments and her all-around solid play looks like someone who has been hooping it continuously for the last five years in high school and college.
Arizona coach Adia Barnes knows how fortunate she was that Tack landed on her team last November — even if she couldn’t play right away. She’s also got all the intangibles that Barnes loves.
“Erin’s really strong … she’s like a beast; I think it’s that’s track strength,” Barnes said. “Our girls are pretty strong, and she is strong. … (She brings) energy, (is a) great teammate, always has a great attitude, (is) a connector. I love that stuff, and she brings that every day. She’s not someone who’s going to hang her head if she’s not playing. She’s not pouting on the bench. She appreciates everything. It’s my pleasure to play her and give her minutes. And I love what she brings. …
“When you do those things, you give your coaches more confidence, (you) play more and she can earn more minutes. She’s really valuable and I love what she’s brought to us. She’s something we walked into and got really lucky with her.”
Her teammates know they can rely on Tack to bring it when Arizona (2-0) plays at UC San Diego (1-1) on Sunday at 3 p.m. The game will be streamed on ESPN+, and Derrick Palmer will be on the radio call on 1400-AM.
As the story goes, Tack was discovered in the weight room while she was lifting for track. The performance coaches realized that she had that athletic frame that could transfer onto the basketball court. A few days later she was practicing with the Wildcats and put on scholarship.
Basketball was her first sport, but in high school, she broke her hand and missed a portion of her season. Then, the ACL injury hit, and she missed a year. By the time she was ready to play, COVID-19 struck and she turned all her focus toward javelin.
This time, her injury came during a non-contact drill in an individual skills session. Tack was dribbling full court, jump stopped and felt her right knee buckle. It hurt, but not as much as it did the first time in high school.
The MRI was inconclusive and at the time Barnes said that this is typical on an already repaired knee because there is scar tissue and it’s hard to see what’s going on. Tack had surgery in January and thought it would take a full year to come back. Fortunately, for her and her teammates, that timeline was pushed up.
The comeback
Erin Tack is back on the basketball court after tearing her ACL for the second time last November.
She was cleared for all-out contact in eight months, meaning she would be on the bench in uniform ready to check into a game for the first exhibition. She played in both matchups and logged five minutes against Tarleton on Thursday night. She attempted one 3-pointer that rimmed in and out and played that signature Arizona swarming defense.
Tack is one of those players that you feel their presence. She might only play for five minutes, but it feels like she is on the much court longer. When she’s on the bench, she is one of the loudest cheerleaders — and that says a lot with Jada Williams, Isis Beh, Skylar Jones and others who are always getting excited and jumping around.
It’s hard to join a team midseason and feel like you belong, but for Tack and fellow walk-on — and now scholarship player — Brooklyn Rhodes, who was with UA for the stretch of the season, it was like they were always meant to be Wildcats.
“Erin really got the worst of it. She got hurt the same week she got here,” Jones said. “She still stuck it out. She does every practice, every lift – (Tack and Rhodes) do the same thing we do. I feel like when they get in the game, we should be giving out what they give us, and that’s important, because they’re good people, and they deserve that.”
On the flipside, Tack said she felt a strong connection with her teammates, especially after she got injured as they were “texting me right away, ‘Hey, do you need anything? How are you doing?’”
“It was super cool, because I’d known them for a few weeks,” Tack said. “The day I got hurt, everyone on the coaching staff was coming in the training room checking on me. Even before I got hurt, my first day was Thanksgiving and they were like, ‘Oh everybody come to our Thanksgiving,’ and I had only known them for three hours.”
Tack’s rehab consisted of getting the strength back, conditioning and getting back to the fundamentals. She said she feels like she’s in better basketball shape, which helps her in the Arizona system with a full-court press.
In May, she was already shooting hoops with her brothers back home in Kelso, Washington.
“They’re like, ‘Oh yeah, let’s see what you got,’” Tack said. “My parents were like, ‘We’ll rebound for you.’ It was just like, back in basketball, which I haven’t been doing for years. It’s cool, because all my family grew up playing, so they’re like, ‘oh yeah, let’s do this.’”
That was the fun and easy part. Of course, with Tack, even the hard stuff — lifting her leg and flexing after the surgery and gaining confidence to do the motion of cutting again — seems to have an upside. She counts mental and physical toughness as her strengths and you could also add in always having a forward-looking positive attitude.
Tack is back and living her dream. She is savoring every moment, especially playing at McKale Center.
"She's not someone who's going to hang her head if she's not playing. She's not pouting on the bench. She appreciates everything. It's my pleasure to play her and give her minutes. And I love what she brings," UA basketball coach Adia Barnes said of Erin Tack (far right).
“Basketball opening up again especially at the college level, I never thought it would happen,” Tack said. “I’m super grateful that it did. And being able to play here and under Adia is amazing. … Being part of the team last year and sitting in the atmosphere (in the arena) was unreal. I could not believe it. Now, being able to suit up and play, I am super excited.”
