Nielson chooses to be grateful for time she got at LCSC

Rather than dwelling on what she missed out on when the NAIA tournament was canceled because of the coronavirus, the lone senior on the Lewis-Clark State women’s basketball team instead chose to feel grateful for the “games I got to play.”

And Jamie Nielson’s outlook has proven an inspiration to her teammates, who were also brokenhearted about missing out on the NAIA tournament because of the pandemic.

Following the lead of the NCAA, the NAIA decided to scrap Nationals on March 12, a day after the No. 21 Warriors (21-10) had been invited as an at-large berth. LCSC’s final game was March 10, when the Warriors lost 69-66 to Providence in the Frontier Conference title game.

“It takes a special kind of person to find the positive in any situation,” L-C forward Kiara Burlage said, “and even in this coronavirus (situation), Jamie would find something positive. Like maybe it’s giving her more time to spend with her family.”

LCSC guard Jansen Edmiston recalled Nielson making her teammates feel better about the situation by pointing out what they had to be thankful for during a postseason wrap-up conversation after the NAIA made its announcement.

“It was really emotional, but it was really sweet of her to tell us how thankful she was for us,” Edmiston said. “That was kind of our wrapping up of the season and she did a good job of expressing how all of us felt — and that she was just really grateful.

“She’s always looking on the bright side of things and saying how thankful she is.”

A week after giving that pep talk to her teammates, Nielson was asked how she’s continuing to cope with everything.

“It was definitely heartbreaking,” Nielson said, “and the feelings were really hard to work through. But I’ve decided to take the route of being grateful for the games that I got with my team instead of the games that I missed out on, because as much as it sucks to miss out on that chance for a national title, I’ve decided to be grateful for the time I’ve had.”

During the time Nielson had this season, she managed to score the 11th-highest single-game point total in school history (35), ranked second on the team with 11.3 points per game and was named an honorable mention All-American.

Derek Brimhall began coaching Nielson in AAU when she was in the eighth grade — and noted he probably learned more from her than the other way around.

“I would just say the first thing that comes into my head about Jamie is she changed my life,” Brimhall said.

During the three years he worked with her — which included two practices and two individual skills trainings a week — Brimhall said Nielson missed maybe two practices.

“Which made me excited,” Brimhall said, “because she wanted to learn so much.”

Excited as he was, Brimhall worried that Nielson might eventually burn out. When Brimhall expressed that concern to Nielson, her response stuck with him.

“She told me she could never get burned out on basketball, because she loves it so much,” Brimhall said. “I think it’s true. If you like it, why would you get tired of it?”

After Nielson missed a last-moment 3-point shot in the FC final that could have forced overtime, she immediately went upstairs to an auxiliary gym at the Activity Center and spent the next half-hour shooting from the spot where she’d just missed.

“I’ve never been around a person, an athlete, that truly loves — just loves — the sport,” said her dad, Ron Nielson. “And it’s not been easy for her.

“She’s had to work harder than most to achieve her dream.”

It seems there’s hardly a moment when Nielson isn’t in the gym putting up shots.

“There’s days where they just got back from a road trip, and you hear someone in the gym, and you just know it’s Jamie,” LCSC sports information director Alisha Alexander said.

Nielson frequently will sneak in jumpers between classes. And when Warriors coach Brian Orr gave his team an off-season goal two summers ago to make 18,000 3-pointers before reporting for the season, Nielson was the only player to complete that challenge.

“(It) was like 300 3s a day, five days a week,” Orr said of the pace Nielson needed to maintain to accomplish that feat. “She was texting me updates — and when she got it, it was a pretty cool thing.”

Rebounding for Nielson during every one of those makes was her mom, Lisa Nielson.

“She really loves (basketball),” Lisa Nielson said. “And you have to love it to spend that much time on it.”

During the two seasons she spent with his junior college program, College of Southern Idaho coach Randy Rogers appreciated Nielson’s work ethic.

“She had her struggles her freshman year,” Rogers said, “but not once did we ask her to get into the gym.”

During her prep career, Nielson spent just one season as a starter — but during that year, managed to help first-year coach Vanessa Hall put her stamp on the program at Sky View High School in Smithfield, Utah.

“A leader doesn’t just have to be somebody that talks, and is loud,” Hall said. “She’s great at leading by example.

“Our juniors her senior year were studs, but Jamie and our seniors that year set the example of, ‘This is what Sky View basketball is.’”

A junior on this year’s LCSC team, point guard Peyton Souvenir, similarly looked up to Nielson.

“It seems like it comes so natural to her,” Souvenir said of Nielson’s sanguine manner. “She’s not the type of person who’s going to wear her emotions on her sleeve, unless it’s positive.”

After graduation this spring, Nielson hopes to pursue a master’s degree in mental performance and sports psychology, with an eye toward becoming a certified mental performance consultant. Her inspiration for that career is Collin Fehr, an assistant professor in the movement and sports sciences division at L-C.

“A lot of us, we might have a first impression of someone and might shut our minds off to what they might have to offer us,” Fehr said. “Jamie’s just the opposite of that. She’s going to see what she can glean and learn from another person in any situation and I think that’s a very high character trait.”

Fehr called Nielson a “super good basketball player,” but added that being a good athlete is only part of who she is.

“In fact, I view that as being a much smaller part of her story and who she is,” Fehr said. “She brings light into the world through her interactions. It’s not just with me. It’s just a genuine concern ... for the well-being of humankind and those around her.

“I think that she is a light in the world and she’s one of a kind. I wish there were more people like her.”

Edelman may be contacted at bedelman@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2277.