Mic'd Up Sports

Frequent guest LaShayla Wright-Ponder typically comes on to discuss the sights and spaces she visits in her overseas travels, including a pair of stops in England and Luxembourg in her third season as a professional basketball player. That hasn't changed, but a series of trials upon her arrival in England and her return home proved illuminating in ways that stats can't measure.LaShayla goes deep in our most complex and revealing conversation yet, discussing the growing pains that accompany age and experience.

As Jordyn Johnson writes the final chapter of her high school volleyball career at DeLaSalle, she will write several new ones next year at UC-Santa Barbara. When she isn't racking up blocks or kills, you'll find Jordyn working on code as a member of the DeLaSalle robotics team. Her summer job? Interning with the Minnesota Twins as a business systems analyst in software development!

We explore all the achievements Jordyn has earned and how that will shape her as she prepares for life as a Division I student athlete.

From the late 1990s through the 2000s, Minneapolis North girls basketball was a pipeline for Division I recruits. Catrice Williams was no exception, winning three straight Class AAA state titles before landing a Division I spot at Arkansas State.

As a youngster, Catrice was inspired by the likes of Tamara Moore and Mauri Horton. In college, Catrice found herself in a mentally treacherous position, leading her away from the sport for several years. Raising two daughters has given Catrice a renewed love of the game, and the sport has served her well in her current role as a realtor and affordable homeownership advocate.

If you heard of a three-sport athlete who plays football, basketball and track, Deborah Ayeni might not be the first name that comes to mind. The kicker? Deborah plays offensive and defensive line on the gridiron, emblematic of a student athlete who combines toughness and intellect.

Between the athletes Deborah watched growing up and her two older siblings, including an older brother who plays football at St. Thomas, inspiration was plentiful. In our conversation with a hopeful Division I basketball athlete, find out how Deborah makes all three sports work and how she aims to continue promoting the belief that Nigerian-American women can thrive in athletics.

Professional basketball athlete LaShayla Wright-Ponder checks in with us before taking off to start another season of pro basketball in Sweden. Along the way, she helped run basketball camps domestically with The Sanneh Foundation and abroad in Germany. While she was teaching the game of basketball to the next generation, she learned several lessons about herself that will stick with her no matter what her career looks like.

Nora Francois envisioned herself as a Division I basketball athlete the moment she took up the sport, but the quest to complete her mission brought a deluge of detours and dichotomies.

On one side, Nora was a rising bastion of versatility, becoming the first DeLaSalle player in school history to make varsity as an eighth grader. She later played a central role in DeLaSalle's state championship run in 2019. On the other side, Nora encountered a series of mental health battles and traumatic moments that chipped away at her morale, leading her to transfer schools several times as a junior and senior.

Refusing to let go of her basketball dream, Nora enrolled at North Iowa Area in her college freshman season, which led to a spot in the Southland Conference at New Orleans the following year. Her numbers were modest, but she did earn the first double-double of her collegiate career. Nora sees basketball as a tool to build her career ambitions, and she discusses all the tools that strengthened her resolve with basketball and mental health.

Versatility sums up Lauren Stenman succinctly. At North St. Paul, she embraced whatever role was needed, and she played a big role as a member of the first North St. Paul volleyball team to reach the state tournament and win a medal, taking bronze. At Lewis, Lauren's responsibilities were more defined as the primary setter, a task she has mastered over the last two seasons as Lewis won back-to-back GLVC conference tournament titles. Lauren would love to make it three in a row as she embarks on her final college season, but no matter what happens, the two-time All-GLVC First Team honoree remains steadfast in her mission to grow as an athlete and as a citizen every day.

In this interview, we detail Lauren's odyssey of growth, how the COVID phase led to a stronger spiritual connection, and her voracious fascination with books.

In her 51 years, Onika Craven has done a little bit of everything. You may remember her as a player at Minneapolis Washburn, Rainy River or Minnesota-Morris. You might have seen her running community outreach events as CEO and co-founder of the non-profit organization O'nika's Angels. You may also have seen her covering all sorts of sports with the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder. All of those pieces played a part in Onika being selected to the Rainy River Hall of Fame 2023 class. Her distinction is both a validation of her efforts to make a positive impact wherever she goes and a reminder that you can be recognized for things other than sports. Onika shares it all with us in this episode!