The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Catching up with Women's Basketball's Nina Norman
07.13.2016 | Women's Basketball
Nina Norman (2002-06) is a teacher and coach now pursuing medical school.
When she first arrived on the Forty Acres in the fall of 2002, Nina Norman had already accumulated an impressive resume of basketball accomplishments.
The 2001-02 Houston Chronicle Player of the Year had been a Parade and Nike All-American at Jersey Village High School in Houston. She also had participated in the first-ever McDonald's High School All-American Game for girls that past spring.
By her own admission, the young Norman was "cocky."
"I thought I was going to be a huge, dominating force," Norman said by telephone on Wednesday. "As soon as I got on campus and we had a workout, everybody was blowing by me. I couldn't get a shot off and people were killing me on the defensive end. I didn't know the fundamentals like they did."
Several months later, the No. 11 Longhorns traveled to Provo, Utah, to open the season at BYU. It would be Norman's first collegiate game and, like her approach to that initial practice, the freshman guard was a bit overconfident.
"I had no idea who they [BYU] were and we ended up getting slaughtered," Norman said of Texas' 79-63 loss to the Cougars. "I remember after the game I thought Coach [Jody Conradt] was going to be truly mad at us, but she took us sledding. I was confused because we were going out in the snow and having a good time. As soon as the plane landed, we got back to work and she let us have it. But she let us have a good time while we were there and enjoy the scenery."
Those two memories were eye-opening moments for Norman, who would go on to play on a pair of Big 12 Conference Championship teams and the 2003 NCAA Final Four team during her time at Texas.
She now spends her days giving back to the next generation of students and basketball players as a history teacher and coach at Charles M. Blalack Middle School in Carrollton, Texas.
"Teaching is awesome and my students are great," Norman said. "I teach middle school, so you have a lot of different personalities. They're awkward at that age and I think I like the awkwardness. We talk about everything that goes on in the world. History allows me to cover pretty much everything. That's what I enjoy."
On the court, Norman focuses on the fundamentals to help train her pupils for future levels of basketball in a way that she had not been prepared.
"[Fundamentals] are huge because when I got to UT, I was all just athleticism," Norman said. "I didn't have the fundamentals. At the collegiate level, that's what separates you from everyone else because everyone is equally as good or better than you. Those key fundamentals give you a better chance of getting your shot up or getting past someone. I try to instill that into my kids at the middle school level to give them a little bit of a head start."
After graduation from UT with a bachelor's degree in corporate communications, Norman played overseas in Turkey for two seasons before suffering a career-ending ACL injury. She spent time as a restaurant manager before transitioning into education.
For several years, Norman has been both student and teacher. Having always aspired to work in the medical field, she has recently completed all of the pre-med courses that are prerequisites to medical school – rigorous classes in topics such as biology, organic chemistry and statistics – at North Lake College in Irving and the University of North Texas.
Schoolwork was something that had not always come particularly easy to Norman, but her experience as an undergraduate student at the University of Texas prepared her well for her latest studies.
"Going to school and playing ball was really tough because I was young and really wasn't that mature," she said. "I was a B/C student as a communications major, but when I went back to school, I realized that school wasn't as hard as I thought. I just needed to take the time to study and apply myself. Looking back and comparing then to now, I am a totally different student, but I credit that to me being a B/C student and learning how much I needed to put forth in my studies."
Norman has recently applied to all of the medical schools within the state of Texas and hopes to begin classes in 2017. Her mother, Gladys, is a career registered nurse and has always been an inspiration for Norman.
"I was always going with her to see her patients," Norman said. "She did a lot of in-home health care and I took an interest in that. Once I was sure that I was done playing basketball, I have wanted to go to medical school. I just had to muster the courage to take the classes. Once I started taking the classes, I became a straight A student. Through the classes, I've realized that this is really something that I want to do."
Norman has dedicated her life to both continued learning and helping others. She continues to forge her own path, one greatly influenced by the game of basketball and her time at the University of Texas.
"Growing up, I didn't have much and I didn't come from the best neighborhood," Norman said. "UT definitely opened up the door for me as far as traveling the world. As soon as Coach Conradt got her hands on me, she taught me how to act and react to things, and I learned proper manners. I didn't have that knowledge. Coach always used a lot of big words and I had no idea what they meant. I would always try to remember them to look them up or ask my teammates what they meant. I also learned how to deal with many different personalities and get along with people.
"Basketball is something that has been a force in my life that has pushed me forward. I'm grateful. Without basketball, I have no idea where I would be right now."
