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Swish Appeal\u2019s Iowa beat writer, Zachary Draves, shares his personal appreciation for the Hawkeyes. <\/p>\n
Dear Iowa Women\u2019s Basketball,<\/p>\n
My name is Zachary Draves. I am a featured writer for SB Nation\u2019s Swish Appeal<\/em> based in the Quad Cities, IA\/IL. I have covered you all for the past three years and what a journey it has been. It is a journey I never thought was possible.<\/p>\n I share this with you as a way to let you know that the lives you have impacted include those that you couldn\u2019t possibly imagine, beyond the fans in the stands and those at home who have watched you unleash a women\u2019s basketball renaissance. <\/p>\n Ten years ago, I graduated from Rockford University in my hometown of Rockford, IL. It is hard to believe that it has been a decade and it is even more unfathomable to see where I am at now, as you will soon find out. At that time, I was so optimistic. Probably the happiest I had been in my life then. I was doing well in school, was heavily involved on campus and had made friends I never thought I would have. As a kid who was bullied, was a bully at times as a teen and had long struggled to come to terms with having Asperger\u2019s Syndrome, a condition that makes it difficult to socialize, I felt like I had finally arrived. In terms of my on campus activities, I was involved in Student Government, was an Orientation Leader and volunteered for the American Red Cross and the local children\u2019s museum. I also wrote for the school paper and had a campus radio show. <\/p>\n During the summers of 2012 and 2013, I interned at a local TV station and was anticipating having a job coming out of graduation. I felt I had given it my all and surely was going to get a job that would jump start a career in journalism, with sports being a central focus. I had childhood dreams of wanting to be in sports in some way after playing basketball from grade school up until sophomore year of college, being a NASCAR fan and rooting for Jeff Gordon at the height of his success in the late 1990s and early 2000s and cherishing everything about Michael Jordan and the 1990s Chicago Bulls, who are and will forever be my favorite professional team. <\/p>\n During those formative years, I also happened to fall in love with women\u2019s basketball. When the WNBA<\/a> debuted, I became a fan of the New York Liberty and Rebecca Lobo, Teresa Weatherspoon, Crystal Robinson and Kym Hampton. The Liberty, along with the \u201cBig 3\u201d of the Houston Comets dynasty and Lisa Leslie and Los Angeles Sparks, helped me to see early on that she got game<\/em>. Although I didn\u2019t put it together fully, I felt like I belonged in sports media. <\/p>\n Growing up, I would watch old reruns of ABC\u2019s Wide World of Sports<\/em> and imagine myself as Jim McKay, Howard Cosell, Al Michaels and the others who would span the globe to bring the constant variety of sports, the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat and the human drama of athletic competition to the masses. I also watched every sports documentary. I relished hearing the likes of Bob Costas, Hannah Storm, Robin Roberts, Stuart Scott and Ahmad Rashad, and appreciated the writings of Red Smith, Ralph Wiley, Dave Zirin, Robert Lipsyte, Lesley Visser and countless others. My biggest dream was to go to the Olympic Games as a journalist, after years looking forward to watching every moment I could every four years. In my mind, I had it all planned out. <\/p>\n Then, reality started to sink in. And boy, did it ever. <\/p>\n By May 2014, I had neglected myself professionally and suddenly it dawned on me that as I was on the brink of graduating, as a Phi Beta Kappa no less, I didn\u2019t have anything to show for it in terms of real employment. The TV station didn\u2019t offer me a job and I was left with nothing. I didn\u2019t know where to go because I honestly didn\u2019t seek out anything else nor conceive of doing so. I was left working in the maintenance department at the very same campus that I had given my life to, exactly one month after graduating. <\/p>\n From the summer of 2014 up until early 2021, I went through a long journey of depression, anxiety, anger and frustration, much of it I kept hidden from my loved ones. I didn\u2019t want to show that I was hurting and so I would put on a brave and happy face for them. Along the way, I found myself working jobs that, in retrospect, I detested, but I felt like I had to keep up a positive attitude and try to look at the bright side of things, which was grueling. <\/p>\n I worked for an after-school program and a nursing home. Then my rock bottom was in August 2016, when I found myself working at a factory in St. Charles, IL, where my father worked as a financial controller. I worked the third shift\u20147 p.m. to 7 a.m.\u2014three days a week, and 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. every so often with a few days off afterwards. There were many nights that I would stand over the machine I was working on with my co-worker, wearing gloves, a hard hat, steel-toe boots, a hair net and goggles in the sweltering heat and amidst the loud noise with tears streaming down my face. Through feelings of devastation, I felt like I had completely failed at life and that there wasn\u2019t really a future for me. <\/p>\n At that time, I had enrolled at Aurora University in Aurora, IL to pursue a Master\u2019s in social work. After three years, I was able to graduate in the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic and soon secured a job in academia at Augustana College in Rock Island, IL, where I educate about violence prevention and work with many departments, including athletics. Working with athletes and coaches is a real treat for me. Remember, I knew I wanted to be in sports in some way. It is also a huge bonus that I get to be the faculty mentor\/advisor for my absolute favorite team in all of sports, the Augustana College men\u2019s lacrosse team, who helped me to recapture the simple joy of enjoying the game and soaking in the concept of being a part of a team. <\/p>\n Ironically enough, as I was wrapping up grad school and during that excruciating period of lockdown, I started to rethink some things in life and it suddenly clicked that I could recapture my dream of sports journalism from the bottom up. After all, what did I have to lose? I started blogging, interviewing athletes, coaches, writers and experts. I started a few web podcasts and I soon got an offer to write for Swish Appeal. <\/em>I then was approved to cover you, the Iowa Hawkeyes<\/a>. This was in the fall of 2021\u2014and it has been on ever since. <\/p>\n I was there for many of the big moments. Three NCAA first and second rounds in Iowa City, the Crossover at Kinnick, Caitlin Clark\u2019s buzzer beaters against Indiana and Michigan State<\/a>, Hannah Stuelke scoring 47 points against Penn State, virtually every home game at Carver, the HyVee Classic in Des Moines against Cleveland State, road matchups against Western Iowa and Iowa State<\/a>, the NCAA title game watch parties at Carver, Caitlin Clark becoming the all-time leading scorer and the welcome home celebrations in 2023 and 2024.<\/p>\n The Crossover at Kinnick was particularly meaningful. As a young boy, I watched the 1999 Women\u2019s World Cup final on TV. Who would have thought I would be at the 2023 version but with basketball? I have had the good fortune to write features on Hannah Stuelke, head coach Lisa Bluder and Caitlin Clark just as she was on the cusp of superstardom. I also met and formed connections with an amazing array of fellow journalists and broadcasters whose company is second to none. <\/p>\n Then, in a real full circle moment, on the day that Caitlin passed Pete Maravich to become the all-time leading scorer in college basketball history against Ohio State<\/a> in the regular-season finale, I got to meet Rebecca Lobo, who I idolized growing up, as she was making her way to her seat in press row along with the rest of the amazing ESPN College Gameday crew. After the national anthem, she tapped me on the shoulder and asked if she could scoot by me. As I turned around, I was stunned. I quickly asked her if she would take a selfie with me, and afterwards turned to my colleague Adam Jacobi and asked, \u201cWhat just happened?\u201d Later, as I walked around during halftime, I saw Elle Duncan and decided to go up and introduce myself. She was so nice and kind and we took a selfie together. <\/p>\n