On or Off the Court, Women's Basketball Senior Co-Captain Kate Barnosky Gives Her All

Kate Barnosky has made the most of her time at Tufts University. The women's basketball senior co-captain is active on the court as a team leader who overcame a career-threatening injury. She's equally passionate about her community service involvement.

In a year when Tufts Athletics is promoting active citizenship as part of its Fan The Fire initiative, which celebrates Jumbo Pride and the University's tradition of public service, Barnosky is a role model.

"Kate is everything you want in a student-athlete," Tufts women's basketball head coach Carla Berube said. "For the team, she's been a leader and has done everything we've asked of her. On campus and in the community, she's always willing to help out."

Barnosky just likes to be busy. She was a three-sport athlete (soccer, basketball and badminton) at Walt Whitman High School in Huntington Station, New York. During that time, her mother Kathy developed breast cancer and Kate put her time and effort into raising money to fight cancer. Helping people runs in the family, as Kathy – who's fine now – and Gene Barnosky raised four children who are active citizens.

At Tufts, Kate immediately became involved. As a freshman in September 2008, she joined the Leonard Carmichael Society (LCS), Tufts' volunteer community service organization. In one of her many roles with LCS, she tutored a Somerville middle school student in English for three years.

"It was really great to see her progress," Barnosky said. "She started out as a struggling student and she ended up getting into honors English. It was rewarding to be a part of."

Most of Barnosky's community activities have centered around teaching. As an intern for Playworks Organization in Boston from January to May 2011, she visited several inner-city schools two to three times a week and mentored students in the classrooms, at recess time and after school. A Child Development major, her experience with Playworks reinforced her desire to make a difference at urban schools as a career interest.

"It was very different from what my experience was," she said. "I have always been lucky to have great support around me. When I went into these schools where the kids didn't necessarily have the same opportunities and support systems that I've always been so lucky to have, and are maybe a little less well off, to be able to help was so rewarding and beneficial to me."

Barnosky is also President of the Tufts Athletics Department's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee this year. During her time at Tufts, she's also worked with the Kids to College program, Relay for Life, Special Olympics and the Big Sister Organization, among others.

Meanwhile, her contributions to the Tufts Basketball team have been similarly unselfish. After not playing much as a freshman, she was asked to play out of position in the front court as a sophomore. Undersized at 5'9", her heart and hard work made for a successful transition. She played almost 34 minutes per game and was a leading contributor to a team that qualified for the NCAA Tournament.

Poised for another successful season as a junior captain of the Jumbos, Barnosky tore the meniscus in her right knee during the summer of 2010. Though that injury doesn't typically require more than two months of healing time, she suffered several setbacks and would spend the next 15 months rehabilitating. She did manage to play in four games during her junior season, but the pain was too great to continue. The injury would also put her senior season in jeopardy.

During this challenging time, Barnosky found other ways to keep active. Unable to do any leg work, she focused on increasing her upper body strength in order to improve as a post player. She used other drills, such as dribbling while sitting in a chair, to occupy her mentally more than anything else.

However, last summer, it was starting to look like her basketball career was over. She had surgery to remove the meniscus in March, but the pain persisted.

"My whole family went on vacation in Peru to visit my brother in the Peace Corp in July," she said. "We had a great time, but I was in so much pain just walking around. I was in daily pain, waking up in pain."

After months of working with and receiving support from Tufts athletic trainer Pat Cordeiro, Barnosky finally saw improvement in the knee as a new school year was set to begin this past fall. She progressed from walking without pain to doing light exercises to managing leg presses. By the time preseason practice started on November 1, Barnosky was on the floor with the rest of her teammates, ready to go. 

"It was really strange," she said. "I had no idea in September. I didn't think I was going to play. I wear a brace, which has helped a lot. I still have to be really careful. It swells up on Sunday's after NESCAC weekends. But our team is deep, so that’s helping my injury."

After graduating all-time leading scorer Colleen Hart from last year's team, which lost in the opening round of the conference playoffs, not much was expected of the Jumbos this season. However, they have excelled as a true "team" that relies on a number of people rather than one or two go-to players. They also play aggressive defense, ranking fourth in the nation allowing 45.8 points per game. With Barnosky in her second year as a team captain, they have an 18-5 record, stand second in NESCAC and are strong candidates to earn an NCAA Tournament berth.

"We're so hungry," Barnosky said. "We work so hard every single day. We have a great team mentality. Everyone's just competing every day in practice. That's what we pride ourselves on. That's how the program has always been. The consistency from year to year working hard carries over into new years."

Barnosky was a medical red-shirt last season, leaving open the possibility that she could play again next year. She's not sure if her knee could handle it, and she's also eager to go to graduate school. Either way, she'll be working hard and giving back with whatever she's involved in.

"KB is Jumbo Basketball," Berube said. "She has plenty of talent, but she's all heart."

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Written by Paul Sweeney, Sports Information Director