bluesooner17
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NORMAN — Like plenty of parents, there were some days when Teresa Veitenheimer couldn’t find a baby sitter to watch her daughter while she worked.
On those days, Veitenheimer would haul young Tatum Veitenheimer with her to her job at the Windthorst (Texas) Water Supply Corporation and do her best to keep Tatum entertained.
Teresa would hand Tatum the paper that she needed to throw away. Instead of grabbing a pen and drawing on the paper, though, Tatum crumpled them up and went to work on her shot.
“All her paper that she would normally shred, that’s what I’d do with it — throw it into her trash can,” Tatum said. “I was a real active kid.
“I can’t stay still.”
Friday night at Lloyd Noble Center, the kid who started playing basketball while shooting wadded up paper at a trash can in a tiny town 25 miles south of Wichita Falls, will make her collegiate debut. She's expected to be in the starting lineup for Oklahoma when it opens the season against Western Kentucky at 7.
While basketball was her first and most longlasting sporting love, Veitenheimer is a posterchild for the multi-sport athlete, playing six sports at Windthorst High.
She excelled at basketball, scoring 3,311 career points and becoming a four-time All-State pick by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches. She also earned All-State honors in volleyball and softball. She also played tennis and ran cross country and track for her school.
“Everything that we offered, I did,” Veitenheimer said. “I come from a small school and I’ve always been a fan of sports. I just love getting after it.
“They weren’t always my favorite sports, but if it was going to help out my school, then I’d do it.”
Juggling the various schedules could be demanding. But Veitenheimer said it made putting in the work to become a better athlete and prepare to become a college basketball player less monotonous.
“I feel like it made me better,” she said. “It wasn’t like I was having to work out always with basketball. I could find other ways to keep moving and keep being active.”
Ryan Aber
raber@oklahoman.com
On those days, Veitenheimer would haul young Tatum Veitenheimer with her to her job at the Windthorst (Texas) Water Supply Corporation and do her best to keep Tatum entertained.
Teresa would hand Tatum the paper that she needed to throw away. Instead of grabbing a pen and drawing on the paper, though, Tatum crumpled them up and went to work on her shot.
“All her paper that she would normally shred, that’s what I’d do with it — throw it into her trash can,” Tatum said. “I was a real active kid.
“I can’t stay still.”
Friday night at Lloyd Noble Center, the kid who started playing basketball while shooting wadded up paper at a trash can in a tiny town 25 miles south of Wichita Falls, will make her collegiate debut. She's expected to be in the starting lineup for Oklahoma when it opens the season against Western Kentucky at 7.
While basketball was her first and most longlasting sporting love, Veitenheimer is a posterchild for the multi-sport athlete, playing six sports at Windthorst High.
She excelled at basketball, scoring 3,311 career points and becoming a four-time All-State pick by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches. She also earned All-State honors in volleyball and softball. She also played tennis and ran cross country and track for her school.
“Everything that we offered, I did,” Veitenheimer said. “I come from a small school and I’ve always been a fan of sports. I just love getting after it.
“They weren’t always my favorite sports, but if it was going to help out my school, then I’d do it.”
Juggling the various schedules could be demanding. But Veitenheimer said it made putting in the work to become a better athlete and prepare to become a college basketball player less monotonous.
“I feel like it made me better,” she said. “It wasn’t like I was having to work out always with basketball. I could find other ways to keep moving and keep being active.”
Ryan Aber
raber@oklahoman.com