Eastern has a pretty good basketball team this year, only it’s not the team everyone thinks about when they hear “Eastern” and “basketball” in the same sentence.

Judging by attendance, most people think Eastern only has a men’s basketball team. This season, however, Eastern’s women’s team has a legitimate shot of posting a better record than the men’s for the first time since the 1994-95 season, when the women’s team had a record of 16-12 and the men’s team went 16-13. The two teams posted identical 12-15 records in 1996-97.

The women’s team has much to be excited about this season. Senior guard Lauren Dailey is seven three-pointers away from tying Eastern’s record. Junior Pam O’Conner is back from torn anterior cruciate ligament that sidelined her last year, and Eastern has a promising class of freshman.

Only one thing detracts from my excitement about this year’s women’s squad. Where did Rachel Karos go?

For those of you that haven’t been at the women’s games the last two years, let me tell you about Karos. She was one of the most exciting players to watch on Eastern’s lineup. She was the person who was always hustling. Not to say the others didn’t hustle, but you had to be blind not to notice the extra effort Karos put forth. She was the player that was always willing to sacrifice her body for the sake of helping the team. It wasn’t really a game unless Karos crashed into one of the tables along the sidelines in Lantz Arena diving after a loose ball.

When I noticed Karos wasn’t on the roster this year, I was really disappointed. I’ve never really liked to watch big scorers. I like to watch the players that give 110 percent, don’t quit until the fat lady sings and all those other fun cliches coaches use to encourage their players to play harder.

Luckily for me, I will get to see Karos play this year, although it won’t be for the women’s basketball team. Instead, Karos is on the softball team’s roster for 2004.

“It’s not like I hated basketball here,” Karos said. “It’s just that it wasn’t working out for me here, so I needed a change.”

Shortly after the end of last season, Karos told basketball coach Linda Wunder she wanted to quit the team. Karos said after a couple of weeks of doing nothing she realized she needed something else to do.

Softball coach Lloydene Searle first notice Karos’ talent for the sport last year when Karos took Searle’s softball class.

“I was like, ‘who is this kid?'” Searle said. “I knew who she was, but I was like, wow, she’s got good hands. Wow, she’s got a good bat. She’s a good softball player.'”

Karos said Searle had mentioned the possibility of playing softball. So last spring, Karos decided to make a phone call.

“I remember getting a call,” Searle said. “She said, ‘hi coach this is Rachel, I’m not sure if you remember me from class, but I’d like to play for you.’ And I said, ‘yes I remember you.'”

Karos played third base for Eastern in some of the team’s fall games, but has also practiced at short stop.

Searle seems very excited about her new student athlete, who already is known for her hard work and hustle.

“I think you can’t you can’t put a price on athleticism and the effort an athletic person gives,” Searle said.

I’m just happy to see a great competitor stay in an Eastern uniform.

I do have some simple advice for the catchers Eastern will face this year. If Karos is coming home, and there’s going to be a close play at the plate, get out of the way. She has already proven she doesn’t have a problem running into things.