ACH's Osborne commits to EOU

COULEE CITY - She has been through all the battles on all front for the past five years as an Almira/Coulee-Hartline Lady Warrior.

Now, in just a matter of months, Nicole "Nikki" Osborne, will move on from the halls of ACH and transition into becoming a student-athlete at Eastern Oregon University in LaGrande, Ore.

Osborne signed a National Letter of Intent with the NAIA Division II basketball program last week.

For months, one of the leaders of a three-time Class 1B basketball state semifinalist and twice runner-ups, and in addition, a member of the 2010 volleyball state champions, Osborne was still looking at a future at the junior college level.

That was before she got help from someone she didn't know.

"I was looking at JCs and then during the Reardan tournament a parent there saw me played and called the coach to take a look at me," Nikki said. "They had an assistant come watch me and then they eventually called my coach."

Eventually, after basketball ended, Osborne travelled to LaGrande to see the school and visit with coaches and players in the program.

"I just love everything about it down there," Nikki said. "The campus is really nice, the girls were really nice. They have tall girls and short girls and are a very diverse team. They had a girl named Rosebud down there which was pretty cool."

The gregarious and personable young woman off the court now will take her ultra-competitive persona on the hardwood to a program coming off of a 19-10 season, one year removed from a Sweet 16 appearance at the national tournament.

"Her versatility we noticed since we are small for this level," EOU head coach Anji Weissenfluh said. "We recruited her because she could play outside and out. We can play her at the three or the four. Depending on matchups we could post her up. When she gets a bigger kid she could beat them off the dribble. We are undersized but we are quick and skilled."

Osborne, who stands around 5-10, played post during most of her career at ACH, still has some of the ballhandling skills she developed as a perimeter player in her younger days.

Her lack of size didn't keep her from averaging 17 points and 12 rebounds this past season, with most of her output coming in and around the hoop. She averaged over 20 points per game at the state tournament.

"They see me playing as a three," Nikki said. "I will have to work on my shooting since they are a really good three-point percentage shooting team. When I scrimmaged with them I saw that I could maybe be a kid that could make the defense be honest by being able to drive."

Her coach this season, Mike Correia, can see this happening due to his experience working with her.

"Nikki was great to coach an she was an incredible leader on and off the court," Correia said. "You would think that someone with those stats would be uptight, but Nikki wasn't at all.  She is definitely someone who really enjoyed what she did.  Nikki and her teammates had their own language that they would speak to each other when lining up for free throws, using words that the other team had no idea what those words meant."

One thing everyone could interpret was Nikki's drive to succeed.

"The three things we focus on our program is character, academics, and skill set and she has all three," Weissenfluh said. "We've been very fortunate to find those smaller town kids who have succeeded for us. We definitely got a diamond in the rough."

Nikki's father sees EOU and his daughter as a good fit for one another.

"We went down there for a tryout for the team and saw that the town is a nice little one and it's a pretty cool place," Greg Osborne said. "I think it's great for Nikki. We had a girl from here go there a few years ago (Sheena Henderson) and she had a good time. It's a pretty strong program. I think she'll be able to hold her own."

Nikki plans to study for a degree in nursing and hopes to take the lessons and memories of her times at ACH with her.

"Everything about ACH is awesome," Nikki said. "The family, fans, teammates, coaches, it's going to be hard to be without them. They taught me to be who I and not let anyone change me."