Former Exira standout finishing up decorated career at Iowa State
By Drew Herron - AJ/NT Sports / March 13, 2014
AMES – It’s not as though the basketball folks in Exira have a crystal ball that can look into the future.
But Vikettes coach Tom Petersen knew early on that he had something special in front of him one summer day in the Exira gym in 2006, when Hallie Christofferson, not quite a freshman, sweated through a workout.
The 6-foot-2 freshman was long, athletic and superbly coordinated for her frame, and she had many of the raw qualities desirable of a basketball player. But when coach Petersen saw firsthand the dedication and work ethic demonstrated from a young lady mature beyond her years, he believed at once he was seeing the start of something extraordinary.
"I wish people could have seen and watched the way she would go about practice, because it's not something you come along often,” he said. “And I haven't seen it since."
For Iowa State, the eureka moment came two years later, though Cyclones’ head coach Bill Fennelly says it took less than five minutes of seeing Christofferson working out at the ISU summer camp on the Ames campus prior to her junior year for the Cyclones' coaching staff to lock into her abilities as a DI player.
"After every session, we meet as a staff, and I told them immediately that I want that kid," coach Fennelly says of Christofferson. "From there on, we wanted her pretty bad and we recruited her pretty hard. I can say I've spent a lot of time at the Casey's in Exira."
It laid the framework for one of the most decorated careers in Iowa State Cyclones Women’s Basketball history, as evidenced again this week with Christofferson’s selection to the First Team All-Conference by the Big 12.
This latest honor is one of many bestowed upon Christofferson, who grew up on a farm in rural Audubon County, a bit east of Hamlin and north of Exira.
After leading Exira to its only girls’ basketball state championship as a senior in 2010, Christofferson made a quick transition to the pace of Iowa State and the Big 12.
As a true freshman, she started 27 of 33 games and averaged 9.3 points and 5.1 rebounds on her way to earning a spot on the All-Big 12 Freshman Team in 2011.
That quickly silenced critics who doubted that Christofferson’s domination of the Rolling Hills Conference and Class 1A basketball would translate well to the best conference in the country for women’s college basketball.
"She wasn't a big name coming into college and Exira, Iowa isn't exactly on the national map," coach Fennelly says. "But as a freshman, she makes the (Big 12) All-Freshman Team, and that was quite an accomplishment.
"Hallie had the skill sets that were more advanced that most freshmen, and we put her in a situation where she could be successful right away. We plugged her in and allowed her to grow in her role, and she's been a phenomenal asset ever since."
Most of those skill sets were built up in the gym in Exira, over the course of several hours over several years. From the onset, coach Petersen stressed fundamentals and pushed for hours upon hours of footwork and agility training. Those gains can be seen today on the floor at Hilton Coliseum.
"We work a lot on moves," coach Petersen says. "Obviously you want to spend time shooting the ball, but in practice we spend a lot of time on movement, because it's all position with your feet and your body if you want to be successful in the game of basketball.
"So many kids want to come into the gym, pick up a ball and just start shooting. Honestly, that would be the LAST thing I would encourage kids to do. You start off with ball handling, agility, weights and more ball handling…shooting is usually the last part that goes with it."
At the close of this week (March 14), Christofferson is averaging 18.7 points and 7.5 rebounds per game for Iowa State, and has recorded 19 career double-doubles. Amongst the honors this year for the All-American candidate are spots on the Naismith Trophy watch list as well as the Wooden Award, two of the most prestigious honors out there.
Christofferson is the school’s fourth leading scorer all-time in terms of points-per-game (18.5) and she ranks fifth on ISU’s single season points list (558). She’s also the best free throw shooter (.879) on the nation’s second-best free throw shooting teams (80.2).
In Ames, they have a saying of “Doing things the Iowa State Way.” Coach Fennelly says Christofferson is the living embodiment of that concept.
"Hallie has impacted our program positively and dramatically in a number of ways on the court and off the court,” he says. “Our fan base loves her, she's a phenomenal student and she's bringing national recognition to our university because of the (numerous) awards that are basketball related and not.
"I've been here 19 years, and we can all debate who are the best players to have ever played here. But when that discussion takes place, Hallie certainly deserves to be in that discussion."
Since her arrival on campus at ISU, Christofferson has played positions 2-3-4 and 5, and has grown her game tremendously and thoroughly.
This year especially, the team has relied heavily on her versatility as she eats up minutes and rarely leaves the court.
"Our team this year, the weight that she carried on her shoulders is probably greater than any one individual player we have ever had here," coach Fennelly says.
Christofferson came into the process at Iowa State as post, but came out the other side polished enough to play anywhere on the court. On the low block or the perimeter, that balance and versatility is also a product of hard work dating back to the Exira days.
Coach Petersen saw early that Christofferson could do a lot more than dominate the post. Sometimes the towering 6-foot-3 forward would bring the ball up court, shoot from long range, and slash inside and out whenever she was given the green light. She did it at Exira, and eventually she grew into that as well on the Big 12 stage.
"She's blossomed and opened up her game tremendously since she's been at Iowa State," coach Petersen says. "Now people can see how good a player she really is. In high school, she was mainly a post player…yea she could step up and shoot 3's, but we didn't need her to do that. As I watch her at the collegiate level, that's her greatest development or evolution…her ability to shoot from outside."
It’s the expansion of her game that has Christofferson most satisfied since arriving at Iowa State. In the Rolling Hills Conference, there was no reason for Christofferson to do anything other than what she was doing by dominating in the paint.
But she knew competing at the next level would require a different approach.
“When I was at Exira, all that was expected of me was to be a post player,” she says. “Coming here, I started to play the (No. 3 position), and that’s what I am most proud of in regards to improving my game. To expand out to the perimeter and shoot 3-pointers was my way to work my way out from the basket.”
At that level, to evolve one’s game takes an extra kind of effort and dedication. But from freshman year to sophomore and from sophomore to junior and from junior to senior, Iowa State has seen steady and marked improvement from Christofferson.
The process by which that happens is attributable more to the individual than the institution.
"I've got a lot of players come and sit in my office and tell me that they want to get better and they're going to do this, this and this," coach Fennelly says. "But they walk out the door, and that's the end of it, it's over. Obviously, it takes WORK. You need to put in the time, you need to be in the gym, you have to accept coaching, and you have to be accountable and responsible. Hallie's individual personality traits have allowed her to become a GREAT player because she put in the time."
Iowa State’s season and schedule now sits in limbo, waiting for the selection process to play out Monday. It will determine where or how the Cyclones will play their postseason tournament, and how Christofferson might end her collegiate playing career.
“It’s gone by so incredibly fast,” Christofferson says. “I remember as a freshman thinking or feeling like it was never going to end. Now, I try my best just to take it all in.”
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