Upcoming Event: Women's Basketball versus LSU on December 4, 2025 at 9 p.m.
/
9 p.m.
Women's Basketball
vs LSU
Photo by: Duke Athletics
The Subtle Captain
2/7/2020 2:05:00 PM | Women's Basketball
By Jim Sumner, GoDuke.com
JDURHAM, N.C.-- Duke's 2019-20 women's basketball team has tri-captains, grad-students Haley Gorecki and Kyra Lambert and redshirt junior Emily Schubert.
Allow me to introduce you to Schubert.
She's an acknowledged leader of the team, smart as a whip, a positive, nurturing presence on and off the court, with an enviable work ethic.
Schubert is a native of Elizabethton, Tennessee, a town of about 13,000 located in the northeast corner of the state. She's 6-4, so it's not surprising she gravitated towards basketball. She helped her high school win the 2A state championship in 2014 and averaged 11 points, 8 rebounds and 4 blocks per game as a senior in 2016.
But when she wasn't on the basketball court, she was running cross-country in the fall and participating in track and field in the spring.
And this wasn't just something she did to keep in shape for basketball. She was good at it. She finished 45th in the state in cross-country as a senior and three times finished in the top four in the discus, her father Robert's event in college.
"I had some offers for track," she says "but ultimately it came down to my love for basketball. I couldn't see myself not playing. I'll always love track. I'm sure I'll keep running after I finish playing basketball. It was almost a toss-up between the two."
Schubert decided to concentrate her senior energies on basketball and didn't start taking visits until the spring of her senior year.
She was a four-year member of the National Honor Society at Elizabethton High School, so Duke was an attractive option.
"Academics was a key factor. I was between majoring in math or business and Duke doesn't have a business degree, so economics is the next best thing. I love it. I just finished up all my core classes this semester, so I'm doing great."
Schubert has been named to the ACC Honor Roll each of the last two seasons.
On the Duke end, the Blue Devils needed a post player and were glad Schubert was available that late in the process.
"We had an opportunity and she jumped into that opportunity," head coach Joanne P. McCallie says.
Schubert suffered an ACL injury the first week of practice, "just coming down the court and I tried to plant."
She had surgery and sat out 2016-'17, her true freshman season.
"It took a while to get my confidence back. My teammates definitely helped me with that. Just keep pushing and keep working on my game."
McCallie calls Schubert "a great rehab person. She was dedicated to it."
McCallie and Schubert both say she didn't lose anything but time to the surgery.
Still, she's never been able to gain consistent playing time.
Doesn't mean she's not still trying.
"I'm always trying to be a star at the ACC level. I think for me my biggest thing is I want my team to win. I don't really care how I do as long as we win and I'm keeping my teammates happy."
How did the tri-captainship happen?
"We held a vote back in April. My teammates voted for me as team captain because I come every day, I work hard, I never have a bad attitude, I always support my teammates, I never give up. I think I have a lot of leadership qualities that may not stick out to a lot of people. I do a lot of stuff behind the scenes, one-on-one, a lot of little personal things to make sure the team is still together."
Sophomore Onome Akinbode-James is one of the younger players who has benefited from Schubert's tutelage and positive energy.
"She's a ray of sunshine. She's the first one here. She works so hard. She knows all the plays and she's definitely someone to talk to about the plays. She's one of those people who never has a bad day, no matter what's going on.
She's trying to be more vocal. She will approach you. But she's definitely not one to get in your face. You can talk to anyone and they would not have one terrible thing to say about Emily. She's such a sweetheart."
Schubert says she likes to approach teammates "typically outside practice because it's very heated in the moment, so I like to approach people before if I sense something is a little off or I'll stay after and check in and make sure everything is okay."
Schubert has two younger sisters and says the nurturing part comes easy. She's a lead-by-example type who is working on becoming more vocal.
"I lead by working so hard that people are like 'okay, she's working so hard, I'd better work hard too.' I've definitely become more vocal over my four years here."
McCallie definitely appreciates Schubert's role on the team but says there can be more.
"She's committed to the team, committed to the values of the team, comes to work hard every day, comes in with the right attitude and gives 100 percent of what she can give everyday.
"She working on her vocal leadership. She's a quite leader, a one-on-one talker. She needs to seek out more. She's working on that. But the players seek her out. They respect her. They genuinely like her. She's a great kid. She makes contributions in practice, on scout team. And she'll make contributions on the bench, talking, being ready. We do talk about roles and we did talk about her role on the team and how she can best help her teammates and eventually develop her personally to be a more vocal leader instead of just lead-by-example so I think there's been a lot for Emily to learn and a lot for her to offer."
She will graduate this spring with that degree in economics and says she's ready to enter the work force.
"I'm applying for jobs right now . . . hoping to use my economics degree in consulting or in finance or something along those lines."
How does she sum up her four years at Duke.
"My teammates have made this an incredible experience. I don't know where I'd be without them. They're goofy, ridiculous, hilarious. It's a blast. I love seeing them do well."
#GoDuke
JDURHAM, N.C.-- Duke's 2019-20 women's basketball team has tri-captains, grad-students Haley Gorecki and Kyra Lambert and redshirt junior Emily Schubert.
Allow me to introduce you to Schubert.
She's an acknowledged leader of the team, smart as a whip, a positive, nurturing presence on and off the court, with an enviable work ethic.
Schubert is a native of Elizabethton, Tennessee, a town of about 13,000 located in the northeast corner of the state. She's 6-4, so it's not surprising she gravitated towards basketball. She helped her high school win the 2A state championship in 2014 and averaged 11 points, 8 rebounds and 4 blocks per game as a senior in 2016.
But when she wasn't on the basketball court, she was running cross-country in the fall and participating in track and field in the spring.
And this wasn't just something she did to keep in shape for basketball. She was good at it. She finished 45th in the state in cross-country as a senior and three times finished in the top four in the discus, her father Robert's event in college.
"I had some offers for track," she says "but ultimately it came down to my love for basketball. I couldn't see myself not playing. I'll always love track. I'm sure I'll keep running after I finish playing basketball. It was almost a toss-up between the two."
Schubert decided to concentrate her senior energies on basketball and didn't start taking visits until the spring of her senior year.
She was a four-year member of the National Honor Society at Elizabethton High School, so Duke was an attractive option.
"Academics was a key factor. I was between majoring in math or business and Duke doesn't have a business degree, so economics is the next best thing. I love it. I just finished up all my core classes this semester, so I'm doing great."
Schubert has been named to the ACC Honor Roll each of the last two seasons.
On the Duke end, the Blue Devils needed a post player and were glad Schubert was available that late in the process.
"We had an opportunity and she jumped into that opportunity," head coach Joanne P. McCallie says.
Schubert suffered an ACL injury the first week of practice, "just coming down the court and I tried to plant."
She had surgery and sat out 2016-'17, her true freshman season.
"It took a while to get my confidence back. My teammates definitely helped me with that. Just keep pushing and keep working on my game."
McCallie calls Schubert "a great rehab person. She was dedicated to it."
McCallie and Schubert both say she didn't lose anything but time to the surgery.
Still, she's never been able to gain consistent playing time.
Doesn't mean she's not still trying.
"I'm always trying to be a star at the ACC level. I think for me my biggest thing is I want my team to win. I don't really care how I do as long as we win and I'm keeping my teammates happy."
How did the tri-captainship happen?
"We held a vote back in April. My teammates voted for me as team captain because I come every day, I work hard, I never have a bad attitude, I always support my teammates, I never give up. I think I have a lot of leadership qualities that may not stick out to a lot of people. I do a lot of stuff behind the scenes, one-on-one, a lot of little personal things to make sure the team is still together."
Sophomore Onome Akinbode-James is one of the younger players who has benefited from Schubert's tutelage and positive energy.
"She's a ray of sunshine. She's the first one here. She works so hard. She knows all the plays and she's definitely someone to talk to about the plays. She's one of those people who never has a bad day, no matter what's going on.
She's trying to be more vocal. She will approach you. But she's definitely not one to get in your face. You can talk to anyone and they would not have one terrible thing to say about Emily. She's such a sweetheart."
Schubert says she likes to approach teammates "typically outside practice because it's very heated in the moment, so I like to approach people before if I sense something is a little off or I'll stay after and check in and make sure everything is okay."
Schubert has two younger sisters and says the nurturing part comes easy. She's a lead-by-example type who is working on becoming more vocal.
"I lead by working so hard that people are like 'okay, she's working so hard, I'd better work hard too.' I've definitely become more vocal over my four years here."
McCallie definitely appreciates Schubert's role on the team but says there can be more.
"She's committed to the team, committed to the values of the team, comes to work hard every day, comes in with the right attitude and gives 100 percent of what she can give everyday.
"She working on her vocal leadership. She's a quite leader, a one-on-one talker. She needs to seek out more. She's working on that. But the players seek her out. They respect her. They genuinely like her. She's a great kid. She makes contributions in practice, on scout team. And she'll make contributions on the bench, talking, being ready. We do talk about roles and we did talk about her role on the team and how she can best help her teammates and eventually develop her personally to be a more vocal leader instead of just lead-by-example so I think there's been a lot for Emily to learn and a lot for her to offer."
She will graduate this spring with that degree in economics and says she's ready to enter the work force.
"I'm applying for jobs right now . . . hoping to use my economics degree in consulting or in finance or something along those lines."
How does she sum up her four years at Duke.
"My teammates have made this an incredible experience. I don't know where I'd be without them. They're goofy, ridiculous, hilarious. It's a blast. I love seeing them do well."
#GoDuke
Players Mentioned
F/C
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
C
/ Women's BasketballKara Lawson on Bella Flemings
Monday, November 17
Kara Lawson on Taylor Sofilkanich
Sunday, November 16
Kara Lawson on Sanai Green
Thursday, November 13
Kara Lawson on Autumn Fleary
Wednesday, November 12
