A 'legend' in her own time

Barbara Krause to receive Atlantic Coast Conference honor in March

As big-time college basketball enters the final stretch before descending into March madness, fans are turning their attention to the season-ending conference tournaments that help determine the teams that will play in the NCAA national tournaments for men and women.

This year?s women?s tournament in the highly competitive Atlantic Coast Conference will shine a spotlight on Skidmore?s Barbara Krause, who will be honored as an ACC ?Legend? for contributions ?to the prestige and tradition of ACC women?s basketball.? The recognition ceremony for the 13 women comprising the 2009 ACC Legends class will be Saturday, March 7, during halftime of the ACC tournament?s first semifinal game. Krause, who played three years at Duke, will be there with 10 other players and two coaches representing the conference?s 12 schools.

Krause, executive director of the Office of the President at Skidmore since June 2006, called the recognition ?humbling.? It is certainly well earned: while at Duke from 1978 to 1981 she set the Blue Devils? single-game record for rebounds (24 on Jan. 10, 1979 vs. Catawba). In addition, her 23 rebounds against Georgia Tech on Jan. 13, 1979, remains an ACC-contests-only single-game record and is second in the Duke single-game record book.

She still holds the following ACC and Duke records:
? average number of rebounds per game (10.7 in 1978-79), which led the ACC that year and is third in Duke?s single-season record book;
? career average for rebounds (9.9 over three years), second best in Duke history and tied for seventh-best average in ACC history;
? total rebounds collected (732), 10th best in Duke history.

As a senior, Krause was one of only two players to finish in the ACC?s top 10 in points (12.9 per game), rebounds (9.3 per game), field-goal percentage (50.8%), and free-throw percentage (80.4%).

Said Krause, ?I never for a moment thought that my name would still be in the record books almost 30 years later, let alone at the top of any list. Then again, I can?t really believe it?s been nearly 30 years since I played college basketball!?

The Freeport, Maine, native demonstrated notable athletic ability while in middle and high school, when she excelled in basketball, field hockey, and softball?the only sports available to female players during that pre-Title IX era. John Brogan, a former teacher and coach in Freeport, told the Brunswick, Maine, Times Record, ?When I first saw her in seventh grade, I knew I?d spent my life looking for a kid like her.? Brogan, who also was Krause?s high school English teacher, is someone she has called a mentor and ?a very influential person in my life.?

At Bowdoin College, where Krause launched her collegiate basketball career, she averaged 22.3 points and 14.9 rebounds per game in her freshman year. Both stand as single-season records at Bowdoin. She also participated in outdoor track for the first time, throwing discus, shot put, and javelin. Her success in Maine led to her induction into the Maine Sports Hall of Fame in 1999, and being listed by Sports Illustrated in 2000 as one of the state?s 50 best athletes.

Bowdoin couldn?t contain Krause?s competitive spirit, so she sought academic and athletic fulfillment elsewhere. ?Somewhere along the line,? she said, ?I realized that seeing how good I could be at basketball meant more to me than I thought it did.? She transferred to Duke as a sophomore.

At Duke, Krause recalled, ?I was just a 5? 10? kid from Maine playing the power forward position against opponents who were almost always much taller than I.? Despite the seeming disadvantage, she captained the team in 1980 and 1981, setting records along the way.

But there were challenges centering on the university?s commitment to women?s sports at that time. According to Krause, ?The biggest difference was the number of athletic scholarships for women. In my first year at Duke, we had one player who received a partial athletic scholarship. The rest of us had need-based aid, merit aid or some combination, or paid our own way, while many of our ACC opponents were fully supported through scholarships. I never doubted the commitment of our coaches to us as a team and as individual student-athletes. But at that level, competing against some of the best teams and players in the country, the lack of institutional support definitely hindered the progress of our program.?

She continued, ?Looking back, I am grateful for the opportunities I had and proud of what we accomplished as the ?turning-the-corner? team. There is no doubt that Title IX accelerated the growth of women?s athletics, and I certainly benefited from that. And I?m pleased that today?s female athletes are enjoying even more of those benefits.?

In 1979 Krause was invited to try out for the Pan American Games. Tryouts were at the University of Tennessee, where the team was under the leadership of Tennessee women?s Coach Pat Summitt. Although Krause did not make the team, the experience was a good one. ?It was a tremendous experience to be on the floor with the best players in the country?and in the gym with some of the best college coaches in the country.? She said that Summitt?s legendary intensity ?was absolutely a positive thing. I experienced her then, and have regarded her since, as being all about pushing players to achieve at the very highest level of their capabilities. That challenge has always resonated with me.?

Her athletic success mirrored her success in the classroom, where Krause majored in philosophy and German. She earned departmental honors in German, was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and graduated summa cum laude. She said, ?The desire to excel in basketball and the desire to excel in the classroom reinforced one another. I was very determined to do well despite occasionally missing a class for a road trip. It helped that I actually enjoyed the academics, but I also was totally committed to succeeding in my classes.?

After graduation, she spent two years in Germany playing professional basketball before returning to this country and enrolling at Cornell Law School, where she earned a J.D. degree and served as editor in chief of the Cornell International Law Journal. Since then, the law and academe have been her primary interests.

The upcoming celebration has given her a chance to re-connect with old friends and teammates and re-live days of glory. Said Krause, ?The records certainly are gratifying. But what means the most is what they symbolize: striving for excellence with teammates, the wonderful mentors I?ve had as coaches, and the support of family and friends. And I really appreciate the interest and the excitement that people at Skidmore have expressed about this honor. I just wish my mom were still alive to enjoy this with me. She was always my biggest fan.?