Up Next • Written and Compiled bq Jim Gibbs
KATIE ROLLINS: School Choices • Like many high school students, Katie Rollins wasn't quite sure where she wanted to go to college. She did know, however, that she didn't want to go to a Christian school. "I had gone to a Christian school since I was in seventh grade," says Rollins who, at 6-2, is the second-tallest player on the Lipscomb University (Nashville, Tennessee) basketball team. "I was really ready to get out of the Christian school environment and share my testimony with nonbelievers and evangelize non-Christians." But as she got closer to graduation from Charlotte (NC) Christian in 2005, she gradually had a change of heart, choosing
Lipscomb University, a small Christian college (enrollment: 2,643}, over several larger schools that were recruiting her. "No one from Lipscomb was scouting me
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or anything," she says. "I actually found them. I wanted to be in youth ministry and there aren't a lot of really good Christian schools that have good basketball programs. I visited Samford University in Alabama, the University of Alabama, the College of Charleston in Charleston, S.C. and several others. But then I realized that the best way to prepare for youth ministry is to be at a Christian school where I could learn as much as I could about Christ and the Bible." Rollins, 19, has found that moving away from home-even when going to a Christian schoolhas its challenges. "One of my toughest challenges has been making friends," she says. "It was just difficult to find new friends when I first came here to school. I was involved in so many things in high school and had made a lot of friends. Suddenly, I didn't have any friends besides those girls that I knew from bas..,. Long-range bomber. Although she plays post, Katie Rollins shoots from beyond the arc. She hit 50 percent on trey tries in her freshman season.
ketball, and even though I had my relationship with the Lord, I found myself feeling lonely at times. "But God really answered my prayers and put a lot of great friends in my life from different organizations around campus. Suddenly, I had more friends than time, and it was amazing to see how God worked it all out like that." Things also seem to be working out on the court for Rollins, a sophomore who averaged about 16 minutes of playing time per game last season. "We've got a very focused team this year, and it's exciting to be a part of it," she says. "The great thing about our team is that most of the girls on our team are Christians, and we all bring different things to the table as far as our Christian walk goes." "My verse for this year is 1 Corinthians 7:34," she says. "That verse says, 'An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord's affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit: And I'm just claiming that. That verse tells me exactly what I need to be doing." 0 -JIM GIBBS
senior year, averaged 25 points, six assists, and eight rebounds per game. "I was recruited by North Carolina State, Purdue, St. John's, but I decided on Bethel," he says. "I had originally wanted to play for Purdue, but since my brother is going to be a senior on the team this year.(Robbie) and my dad (Mike) is the head coach here, I pretty much decided that this is where the Lord wanted me to be. I joke with my dad because he's still got a year of eligibility left. He played at Bethel too when he was in college, so we have a good tradition going here." HIGHLIGHTS: "We played a team called Concord in Indiana at their gym. They have very loud fans. Up until that game, they had won 41 out of 42 games. So I got fouled with about four sec-
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