Photo by: Parker Waters
On the Wave: Senior Cruickshank Embraces Role as Tulane's Energy Player
Feb 21, 2018 | Women's Basketball
NEW ORLEANS – The game was already getting out of hand. Tulane was leading by 12 against a Mississippi Valley State team it would eventually beat by 40.
That didn't stop freshman Caylah Cruickshank from showing her trademark energy on the court.
The play developed quickly. Leslie Vorpahl stole the ball. Found Cruickshank on the fast break. And Cruickshank dropped home a simple layup, the first two points of her Tulane career in her first career game.
Then she pounded her chest like Kevin Garnett.
"It wasn't the biggest deal, it was a regular layup," Cruickshank said. "But I got so hyped you would have thought I dunked the ball."
Since that November 2014 night, Cruickshank has been getting her Tulane teammates excited on and off the court. She has used her signature energy to rally her team even when she isn't getting the minutes of other players on the team, and she relishes her role despite never receiving statistics-based accolades.
Now a senior and on her way to graduate school, the Montreal native has showcased her passion for basketball for nearly two decades.
Cruickshank started her basketball career looking out the window. In her driveway, her brothers Kadeeme and Kimond – three and four years older, respectively – would play games against friends. Cruickshank, tired of sitting on the sidelines, eventually started to play aginst her brothers and their friends. Along with her mother, Hilarie, who played basketball in the Caribbean, Kadeeme and Kimond schooled Cruickshank on the sport.
Before long, she was schooling kids her own age, eventually becoming the only girl on all-boys teams.
"I remember my mom saying, 'Oh, so is this going to be a girls' team?' and I said "I don't know, I don't really care,'" Cruickshank said. "And I just went in there, and all the guys looked at me and went, 'What is this little girl doing here?' And I kicked their butts."
Her career took off, and her love of the game led her to travel for the sport at the AAU and high school level. She found herself competing in American circuits, and playing in the NCAA became her new goal. Initially, schools in the Northeast or closer to Canada were what she expected. But at a tournament in Georgia with southern schools in attendance, Tulane became a new option.
When she discussed the idea of Tulane with people in the community, she knew she had found a renowned academic institution. The Green Wave were about to move into the American Athletic Conference, and that extra level of competition appealed to her. And with the French influences in the city possibly making the French Canadian feel closer to home, Cruickshank was sold.
The biggest shock to Cruickshank's system when she arrived in New Orleans had nothing to do with American culture versus Canadian culture. It was the humidity.
"I was like, "Coach is it going to be this hot all the time? I feel like I can't breathe!" Cruickshank remembers saying. "I think I was dressing appropriately after a while once I noticed that long shirts were not the way to go."
Some adjustments had to come on the court as well. One early practice, she remembers subbing out of a five-on-five practice game and running over to the sidelines to get water. Then-senior captain Jamie Kaplan looked at her like she was crazy. In college, water breaks came at designated times during practice, not on a player's whim.
Eventually Cruickshank ditched the long shirts, got comfortable in New Orleans and adjusted to Tulane and team practice routines.
She had her Kevin Garnett moment in her first career game, but she never found a starting role on the team. As a freshman, she averaged 5.9 minutes and 1.3 points per game. Coming from a high school career where she averaged 25.2 points per game, the drop-off in minutes and scoring production could have come as a big disappointment.
But that's not the kind of person Cruickshank is. Instead, she's embraced her role as an energy player off the bench with Tulane.
"It was definitely an adjustment, don't get me wrong," Cruickshank said. "All my life I've started and I've played all the minutes, so it was definitely difficult emotionally. I think that I came in knowing that I'm not going to get all the minutes, I understood that there were people ahead of me who had way more experience, and after the first couple practices I understood that maybe I won't be that person, so it humbled me very fast."
In four years, Cruickshank has played in 91 career games and averaged 8.0 minutes and 1.7 points per game. Rather than coming on the court, her biggest moments at Tulane may be pre-game speeches the fans don't see, sharing her experiences and mentoring teammates or providing motivation in practice. And when she does step onto the court, she can lift the emotions of the Green Wave and spur them on to a victory.
Her efforts don't go unnoticed by teammates. Fellow senior Kolby Morgan – Cruickshank's only classmate on the roster – is often inspired by Cruickshank to play harder or be a better person off the court.
"Any game that she steps on the floor, she gives us energy," Morgan said. "On the bench, she's always the one cheering, she's always giving people high fives, always bringing that defensive spark that we need. It really boosts our energy on the court."
When asked about Cruickshank, Morgan thinks back to this season's trip to the Bahamas to play Iowa State and San Diego State. The team got to participate in fun activities like snorkeling, swimming with stingrays and riding jet skis. But the time Morgan says she cherished most was going back to the hotel room afterward and reflecting with Cruickshank, talking about the trip and life in general.
As for life in general, that will be right around the corner for Cruickshank. She'll graduate from Tulane in May with a degree in business management in marketing. She wants to work in athletics in some capacity, and community service she has done at Tulane with local kids groups has inspired her to work with non-profit youth organizations in some capacity.
"My number one motivator is to give back through sports," Cruickshank said. "Every time we [worked with youth groups], the kids look up to you so much, they remember you, they remember your name and they love to play with you and to get that advice."
Immediately after finishing her Tulane degree she plans on going to graduate school, and long-term she says she would like to move back to Canada.
Whatever Cruickshank does with her future, you can be assured she'll bring energy, enthusiasm and passion to that career.
"I can tell you that if she owns a business in the future, I'm coming to work for her because she's really goal-oriented, she's really organized, she's really driven," Morgan said. "It's hard to find people like that."
That didn't stop freshman Caylah Cruickshank from showing her trademark energy on the court.
The play developed quickly. Leslie Vorpahl stole the ball. Found Cruickshank on the fast break. And Cruickshank dropped home a simple layup, the first two points of her Tulane career in her first career game.
Then she pounded her chest like Kevin Garnett.
"It wasn't the biggest deal, it was a regular layup," Cruickshank said. "But I got so hyped you would have thought I dunked the ball."
Since that November 2014 night, Cruickshank has been getting her Tulane teammates excited on and off the court. She has used her signature energy to rally her team even when she isn't getting the minutes of other players on the team, and she relishes her role despite never receiving statistics-based accolades.
Now a senior and on her way to graduate school, the Montreal native has showcased her passion for basketball for nearly two decades.
Cruickshank started her basketball career looking out the window. In her driveway, her brothers Kadeeme and Kimond – three and four years older, respectively – would play games against friends. Cruickshank, tired of sitting on the sidelines, eventually started to play aginst her brothers and their friends. Along with her mother, Hilarie, who played basketball in the Caribbean, Kadeeme and Kimond schooled Cruickshank on the sport.
Before long, she was schooling kids her own age, eventually becoming the only girl on all-boys teams.
"I remember my mom saying, 'Oh, so is this going to be a girls' team?' and I said "I don't know, I don't really care,'" Cruickshank said. "And I just went in there, and all the guys looked at me and went, 'What is this little girl doing here?' And I kicked their butts."
Her career took off, and her love of the game led her to travel for the sport at the AAU and high school level. She found herself competing in American circuits, and playing in the NCAA became her new goal. Initially, schools in the Northeast or closer to Canada were what she expected. But at a tournament in Georgia with southern schools in attendance, Tulane became a new option.
When she discussed the idea of Tulane with people in the community, she knew she had found a renowned academic institution. The Green Wave were about to move into the American Athletic Conference, and that extra level of competition appealed to her. And with the French influences in the city possibly making the French Canadian feel closer to home, Cruickshank was sold.
The biggest shock to Cruickshank's system when she arrived in New Orleans had nothing to do with American culture versus Canadian culture. It was the humidity.
"I was like, "Coach is it going to be this hot all the time? I feel like I can't breathe!" Cruickshank remembers saying. "I think I was dressing appropriately after a while once I noticed that long shirts were not the way to go."
Some adjustments had to come on the court as well. One early practice, she remembers subbing out of a five-on-five practice game and running over to the sidelines to get water. Then-senior captain Jamie Kaplan looked at her like she was crazy. In college, water breaks came at designated times during practice, not on a player's whim.
Eventually Cruickshank ditched the long shirts, got comfortable in New Orleans and adjusted to Tulane and team practice routines.
She had her Kevin Garnett moment in her first career game, but she never found a starting role on the team. As a freshman, she averaged 5.9 minutes and 1.3 points per game. Coming from a high school career where she averaged 25.2 points per game, the drop-off in minutes and scoring production could have come as a big disappointment.
But that's not the kind of person Cruickshank is. Instead, she's embraced her role as an energy player off the bench with Tulane.
"It was definitely an adjustment, don't get me wrong," Cruickshank said. "All my life I've started and I've played all the minutes, so it was definitely difficult emotionally. I think that I came in knowing that I'm not going to get all the minutes, I understood that there were people ahead of me who had way more experience, and after the first couple practices I understood that maybe I won't be that person, so it humbled me very fast."
In four years, Cruickshank has played in 91 career games and averaged 8.0 minutes and 1.7 points per game. Rather than coming on the court, her biggest moments at Tulane may be pre-game speeches the fans don't see, sharing her experiences and mentoring teammates or providing motivation in practice. And when she does step onto the court, she can lift the emotions of the Green Wave and spur them on to a victory.
Her efforts don't go unnoticed by teammates. Fellow senior Kolby Morgan – Cruickshank's only classmate on the roster – is often inspired by Cruickshank to play harder or be a better person off the court.
"Any game that she steps on the floor, she gives us energy," Morgan said. "On the bench, she's always the one cheering, she's always giving people high fives, always bringing that defensive spark that we need. It really boosts our energy on the court."
When asked about Cruickshank, Morgan thinks back to this season's trip to the Bahamas to play Iowa State and San Diego State. The team got to participate in fun activities like snorkeling, swimming with stingrays and riding jet skis. But the time Morgan says she cherished most was going back to the hotel room afterward and reflecting with Cruickshank, talking about the trip and life in general.
As for life in general, that will be right around the corner for Cruickshank. She'll graduate from Tulane in May with a degree in business management in marketing. She wants to work in athletics in some capacity, and community service she has done at Tulane with local kids groups has inspired her to work with non-profit youth organizations in some capacity.
"My number one motivator is to give back through sports," Cruickshank said. "Every time we [worked with youth groups], the kids look up to you so much, they remember you, they remember your name and they love to play with you and to get that advice."
Immediately after finishing her Tulane degree she plans on going to graduate school, and long-term she says she would like to move back to Canada.
Whatever Cruickshank does with her future, you can be assured she'll bring energy, enthusiasm and passion to that career.
"I can tell you that if she owns a business in the future, I'm coming to work for her because she's really goal-oriented, she's really organized, she's really driven," Morgan said. "It's hard to find people like that."
Players Mentioned
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