Dear Iowa Women’s Basketball,
My name is Zachary Draves. I am a featured writer for SB Nation’s Swish Appeal 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.
I share this with you as a way to let you know that the lives you have impacted include those that you couldn’t possibly imagine, beyond the fans in the stands and those at home who have watched you unleash a women’s basketball renaissance.
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’s 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’s museum. I also wrote for the school paper and had a campus radio show.
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.
During those formative years, I also happened to fall in love with women’s basketball. When the WNBA 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 “Big 3” of the Houston Comets dynasty and Lisa Leslie and Los Angeles Sparks, helped me to see early on that she got game. Although I didn’t put it together fully, I felt like I belonged in sports media.
Growing up, I would watch old reruns of ABC’s Wide World of Sports 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.
Then, reality started to sink in. And boy, did it ever.
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’t have anything to show for it in terms of real employment. The TV station didn’t offer me a job and I was left with nothing. I didn’t know where to go because I honestly didn’t 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.
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’t 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.
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—7 p.m. to 7 a.m.—three 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’t really a future for me.
At that time, I had enrolled at Aurora University in Aurora, IL to pursue a Master’s 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’s 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.
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. I then was approved to cover you, the Iowa Hawkeyes. This was in the fall of 2021—and it has been on ever since.
I was there for many of the big moments. Three NCAA first and second rounds in Iowa City, the Crossover at Kinnick, Caitlin Clark’s buzzer beaters against Indiana and Michigan State, 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, 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.
The Crossover at Kinnick was particularly meaningful. As a young boy, I watched the 1999 Women’s 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.
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 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, “What just happened?” 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.
Taking that one hour drive to Carver Hawkeye Arena to cover a game is something I always get excited about. Once my parking pass is recognized as I drive in, once I get out of the car with my credential around my neck and my computer bag in hand and once I walk into that building, I realize that I found another home. It doesn’t matter if it is during the mild cool of fall at the start of the season, the harshness of a midwest winter or the breath of fresh air during the month of madness, it’s all worth it. The routine of covering a game, posting every highlight on social media, posting pics to Instagram and going into the press room afterwards, there is nothing like it.
In fact, this past December, I was able to take my cousin Luke Draves, who is like my little brother, to a game the day before his birthday. He got to sit in the press row with me as he watched you all steamroll past Minnesota. I take great pride in sharing these moments with my parents, sisters, grandparents and other relatives, seeing them become heavily invested in what you all do and what the future holds for women’s basketball. For the regional final against LSU, the semifinal against UConn and the title game against South Carolina, I got texts from my youngest sister Sarah saying that they were watching the games.
Now that you enter a new era with many of the core group that was responsible for your ascent to popularity moving on to other pursuits, I want to let you know that during this stretch you all have played a huge part in helping me start my life over and recapture a dream that I had put on hold. Now, I know what I want out of life. I want to continue in sports journalism, with my dream of covering an Olympic Games revived. In academia, my biggest goal is to establish a Center for the Study of Sport in Society on campus.
I look forward to seeing what the future holds for the program and look forward to being back in Carver next season. It is only up from here. I survived, and now I feel like I have truly arrived. Through all life has to offer, ups and downs, with many more of both to come for sure, resilience is a virtue and I have had to learn that the hard way. Through your example, you show what is possible.
So I say to you from the bottom of my heart: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Zach