Each month we will highlight a member of our Hardwood Hustle community. This month we want to highlight Cate MacDonald! Cate is entering her sophomore year at Dartmouth College. She has shown exceptional dedication to her game this summer at Hardwood Hustle. As well as working out at Hardwood Hustle, Cate also joined the Hardwood Hustle summer coaching staff. Cate has a lot of knowledge to offer our hustlers. We asked Cate a few questions about her basketball experience and current journey as a Division 1 collegiate athlete.
What is your major/minor at Dartmouth? What career or field do you want to pursue?
My intended major is Government modified with Econ, and my minor is International Studies. I am looking into potentially going into law or finance.
Please describe what a “day in the life” at Dartmouth College is like as a collegiate athlete?
A typical day in the life looks like morning practice from around 7:30-9:45, then breakfast and my classes for the day. Afterwards I have lunch, lift around 4, get extra shots up before or after lift, dinner, then lots of homework and studying before an early bedtime.
How do you handle your workload of academics and playing basketball at a high level?
I think the key to handling the workload of academics and athletics is time management and organization. I think making sure I know when I have the time to get work done and planning my workouts out helps make sure I am on top of things. Also, being organized with the assignments I have gives me a good sense of how much time I need to block off to get it all done and how early I should start in the week for longer papers and preparing for tests.
What are some things that help you to be the most successful on the court?
What makes me most successful on the court is being confident in the work I have put in to get me there and my team around me. I think that games are so fast- paced and intense that I need to believe in the fact that I have properly prepared.
What do you enjoy about playing at a collegiate level?
One thing I enjoy about playing in a collegiate level is the team atmosphere of wanting to bring the program up and having a group of people I can be a part of.
If you are struggling mentally while playing, what is something that helps you to get into a better mindset?
If I am struggling mentally while playing I focus on the next play idea to get into a better mindset. I think that mistakes can derail your mentality while playing, but you always have the opportunity to make up for that mistake. So I focus on going to the next play and putting my all into that.
What helped you to become a successful basketball player, to be able to play at the collegiate level?
What helped me become a successful basketball player and play at the collegiate level was really doing the little things. This is repetition of the boring aspects of basketball, such as a lot of form shooting. I also pride myself on doing hustle plays.
What is a piece of basketball advice that you would give to your younger self?
One piece of advice I would give my younger self is to trust the process. It is a long process of small improvements. Sometimes you can lose sight of how far you have come. So trust what you have put in and give yourself grace, if you are not exactly where you think you should be.
