Tuberville to attend college in Pennsylvania, play hoops

For the textbook definition of a student/athlete, Unique Tuberville of Westfield had chances to go anywhere she wanted to further her education and play a little more basketball. The only question her family wondered was, just how far away from Perry, Ga., would their girl choose to go.

For her mother, thankfully it’s not as far away as California.

The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Esau Tuberville will enroll and play college hoops for Haverford College located in a suburban town of Philadelphia.

“It’s a private small, small co-ed school,” said Tuberville. It is also ranked nationally in the top 15 as a liberal arts college.

“This has been a long time coming,” said Chip Champion, Tuberville’s basketball coach at Westfield her past two seasons. “Unique has filled out more college applications, logged more miles in plane flights, and everything else trying to choose a school. I told her the other day she has to make a decision before she graduates, but she decided (Monday) after a long, arduous journey to figure out where she was going. I think (Haverford) was one of her (favorites) from the beginning.”

“I think it’s a crucial part in choosing a college,” said Tuberville about taking all of those long-distance visits. “You have to get on campus for the feel, the vibe, the people, what you don’t like, what you do like.”

Haverford’s women’s basketball is NCAA Division III in the Centennial Conference, which is comprised of other Pennsylvania schools plus three in Maryland, including Johns Hopkins.

“It does have a competitive basketball team,” said Tuberville. “I’m looking forward to continuing my career. Playing time is not promised, as it shouldn’t be, I believe. The coach (Bobbi Morgan) and I have talked. She knows that I am a hard worker and dedicated, so we’ll see as far as playing time goes.”

“If you look up student-athlete in the dictionary, you are going to see her name,” said Champion, who saw Tuberville pace Westfield’s Lady Hornets to the GISA AAA Final Four as a No. 4 region seed her senior year. “She worked hard to get to this point both academically and athletically. I think it’s paying off with the (scholarships) she’s getting.”

At Haverford, Tuberville’s academic plans are simple. She wants to study finance. Tuberville said she will first obtain her undergraduate degree, then moving on to graduate school and earning her Master’s. She said her dream job is to be a financial manager.

But before Westfield graduation and departing for Haverford, Tuberville said none of this would be possible without God. She said next in her life was her parents for keeping her grounded for 18 years. Her basketball development she credits to the Central Georgia Fever program, where she started. She also played for the Southeastern Lady Blazers, which she said developed several good players before her

“Anyone who’s been there for me and had my back through it all,” she said in her thanks. “The other colleges coaches who have been with me through this recruiting process … for the time they invested in me.”

HHJ News