“But she was committed enough to make up the ground she lost by playing another sport. And that’s the kind of person she is.’’
Over the past three seasons - three straight winning campaigns - Leone has learned not to sell the 5-foot-3 dynamo short on anything.
The feisty forward is “so small and so young looking, you’re like, ‘This kid is the player and competitor that she is?’ ’’ he said. “Just don’t underestimate her.’’
Baskind is a two-sport captain and a two-sport first-team all-Ivy pick while pursuing a Harvard education (she is studying neurobiology).
Student-athletes at Ivy League schools have a different set of circumstances. They are not on scholarship, and thus, according to Baskind, do not have to feel that they are “owned’’ by the university.
There are restrictions on a coach’s ability to “control their lives,’’ Leone said. “Ivy League rules force you to have a balance, and it’s a good balance.’’
Although Baskind was able to make playing a pair of Division 1 sports look relatively easy, she was not fooling Leone.
“When you don’t play a sport for six months, you have to now redevelop’’ your skills, he said. “Last I checked, shooting the ball with a lacrosse stick doesn’t help to shoot one with your legs.
“It developed her in other ways, that’s for sure. Competitive spirit and thinking about the game, all that kind of stuff,’’ he said. “There are a lot of things you gain from it.’’
Baskind was certainly in shape last fall, after her first season on the lacrosse team yielded second-team All-Ivy League honors (with 32 goals in 15 games at midfield). But where her soccer skills and touch showed rust, her intelligence for the game, paired with her work ethic, shone through.
