I am in the Purdue Women's Basketball Pep Band: Gold and Black Sound(GABS) playing the piccolo. This year, the ladies have done a great job, especially with everything they went through: Drey Mingo with meningitis, KK Houser out with a torn ACL, and Ashley Wilson being academically ineligible. Moses, Miss Indiana basketball, really stepped it up and has had a great season . Drey was given a 50/50 chance of recovery after being diagnosed with meningitis. She has combated the illness and is a full time player on the team. Along the way though, the girls have had to find new ways of communication. Drey has found new ways to communicate with the coach and players. With Drey Mingo losing up to 40% of hearing in one ear, the coach has come up with different ways of communication with hand gestures. At first, this was really hard for Drey on the court. Watching her, it was just sad. She was missing obvious shots because of the lack of communication. Just like we learned in class, non-verbal communication is just as important as verbal communication. Given time to come up with a set of hand gestures and even some sign language to communicate has proven to work for the Boilermakers when it matters most. As the season has progressed, they have been able to communicate and work as a team better. Drey is an all-star player! I have just finished watching Purdue women in the 9 seed position win over Kansas State. This 9th seed win was a hard fought win, and Drey Mingo was a key player. Communication is key, and sometimes communication comes in different forms than just talking. The women are to take on University of Connecticut on Tuesday, #1 seed. They should attempt to do what Butler did in beating Pittsburgh, #1 seed, in the Men's NCAA tournament!!!!
-Amy Lohrman
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