We are profiling each member of the 2012-13 Creighton women’s basketball team. Join us weekdays leading up to the regular season tip-off against Oklahoma (November 10) for an introduction to this year’s Bluejays, from freshmen to seniors.
Corbin is ready for the season to get started (Spomer/WBR)
Jasmin Corbin is a utility player that every team needs. She will go in and play the point if necessary. She can slide over to the wing if you want. Need some defense? She will hop in the game in provide a spark. Doing all of those things is what defines Corbin as an important player on the Creighton women’s basketball team.
Heading into her senior season, Corbin has played in 92 games in her first three years for the Bluejays, all coming off the bench. Although her stats don’t show it, she is a major contributor who gives valuable minutes of rest to others while also taking her turn to lead the offense and spark the defense. Her best game last season was against North Carolina State, as she scored a career-high 9 points and went 6-6 from the free throw line.
This offseason has been tough for Corbin, but she has made strides in preparing for this season.
“I had [knee] surgery back in April,” said Corbin. “I have recovered from that. It took a while, about two and a half months, but right after that I just got back into things, trying to get ready to put up some shots and heal properly so I wouldn’t miss the season.”
The local product from Omaha is ready for games to start. She’s especially excited to get on the court against the likes of several top programs coming to Omaha this season.
“Words can’t even describe it. Coming from last year and all the expectations we have this year and how we look at practice, it is pretty awesome. I’m expecting that we are going to do pretty good this year.”
Expectations are high for Jim Flanery’s team this season; the Jays are preseason favorites in the Missouri Valley Conference. With Corbin being a veteran on the team, she knows what is expected.
“We would like to come in as underdogs. Personally, I think we are definitely one of the top seeds in the MVC. And with our heavy non-conference schedule we should be able to prove some points coming into those [conference] games. I think there are pretty high expectations this year.”
Women’s basketball is a lot more open in being able to get top teams to go on the road versus the men. Creighton’s advantage this year is that they have three top teams coming in to Sokol Arena in Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska. Corbin is pretty excited about the opportunity.
“I think it is going to be an exciting environment. It is amazing having top 15 teams in the nation coming in. It is cool to think about,” she said.
Although Corbin and Ally Jensen are the team’s only seniors, the Bluejays are far from inexperienced.
“I really think we are [experienced],” Corbin said. “We have very developed underclassmen here at Creighton. It is one of those things that just because we have just two seniors doesn’t mean that we don’t have the leadership. We had a great leader in DaNae [Moore] last season. Ally is doing a great job as well along with myself. The fellow underclassmen, all the juniors, are amazing; everyone has stepped up to fill the two senior spots. It is not just us by ourselves. It is more than that.”
The positive attitude and the chemistry this team seems to have can go a long way. The Bluejays will be able to show how much it has come together in their game with Oklahoma on Saturday afternoon at D.J. Sokol Arena as they kick off the season.