University of Minnesota Athletics
Wade-ing To Exhale: Senior Guard Wade Hokenson
1/6/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
"It was a long process" Hokenson explained. "I had to talk to Coach (Mike) Hebert and then I had to ask (Athletic Director) Joel Maturi, then I had a couple meetings with the marketing people for the volleyball team." After all of that preparation and planning, the stage was set for Hokenson to ask the most important question of his life.
The plan for this particular volleyball match, was to honor senior outside hitter and Wade's girlfriend, Amanda Cipperly, for her hard work and accomplishments over the previous three seasons. When the match was finished, Cipperly was to go out on the court while a paragraph, which was written by Hokenson, was read.
"At the end of the game, they were gonna call her out to half court and do a little speech on her. In the last game of the match, when the Gophers were pretty close to winning, I started to get really nervous and I started sweating a lot. The game ended, they called her out to half court, and starting reading a little paragraph that I wrote about her."
Laughing, Hokenson recalls "I felt free to write myself into the paragraph. When they started talking about me, that's when I walked out there and when they finished...I proposed."
When asked why he decided to propose in this way as opposed to a more "traditional" proposal, Hokenson explained that this proposal suited both of their personalities better, adding "I just saw myself doing it that way, and I thought it was a cool idea." On the basketball court, Hokenson is much more comfortable than he was that night proposing in front of a crowd. A native of Watertown, Minnesota, he is in his fourth season with the Gopher Basketball team and is seeking a degree in mechanical engineering. While attending Mayer High School, he was a three-time academic honoree and has continued to excel scholastically at the University of Minnesota. While Hokenson plans on graduating after fall semester of next year, he admits that trying to balance athletics with academics hasn't been easy. "It's pretty difficult, especially at first. With my major of mechanical engineering, there's not a lot of flexibility with the classes you can take and when you can take them," he discussed. "With practice and games and then having to do homework, it just gets very tiring, a lot of nights I don't sleep very much, it just wears down your body a lot."
However Hokenson has dealt with the difficulties admirably while keeping a positive attitude. "It's not been easy, but I feel like if I can balance basketball and school, then I can pretty much do anything. I'm happy with the decisions I've made to stay with basketball and my major. I don't regret any of it."
Now that it is his final year of eligibility, Hokenson is concerned with being a leader on the team and doing everything he can to help the team improve. Despite not playing as many minutes as he may like, Hokenson is very self-driven and demands the most out of himself. "I still want to be the best basketball player that I can be" he stated. "Whatever I do, I've tried to be the best that I can be at it. I still go to practice, get better, be the best I can be."
This perspective has been beneficial for Hokenson and the rest of the Gophers team alike. While he pushes himself in practice, he also pushes the rest of the Gophers squad. "I do a lot of my leadership by example, but there is a vocal part of it where I may explain things to younger guys, or help people learn the offense, or encourage guys. But most of my leadership is by the way I conduct myself during practice, trying to lead by example."
When Hokenson began his career with the Gophers, there were certain players who helped him along and were leaders for him to look up to. "I would say there were three guys who I looked for to be leaders, J.B. (Bickerstaff), Terrance (Simmons), and Kevin Burleson. They would show you the ropes, they knew how things work. They taught you what kind of attitude you had to have. It was more of an attitude thing than a playing thing."
Now nearing the end of his career with the Gophers, Hokenson uses the leadership techniques he learned from them both during the games and in practice. His contributions every day have assisted in the Gophers 4-2 start this season and help make sure the team keeps improving.
As for the rest of the season, "I'm looking forward to playing Texas Tech. I haven't been there yet and I have relatives coming to the game." Hokenson commented. He also added "I love playing Michigan State and Wisconsin, those are probably my favorite two teams to play in the Big Ten...they are big games." Hokenson pointed out that it seems that those two teams are always scheduled during pivotal points in the season. "You always like to beat Wisconsin, so I enjoy playing them. Michigan State has been at the top of the Big Ten for a long time, so you're always shooting to top them."
Playing at Minnesota has been a positive experience for Hokenson, a fan-favorite, who added how important it was for him to be able to have family come to his games. "My parents come to almost every game. I have a huge amount of relatives and friends who have kept in touch and keep up with how the team is doing, it's nice that way. Hokenson admits that as a kid he didn't really think much about playing basketball for the Gophers and instead wanted to play at Michigan or North Carolina. "Now that I'm here I'm glad it worked out the way it did and not the way I wanted it to."
For the time being, Hokenson has two things on his mind, the remainder of the basketball season and his fiancé, Amanda. The Gophers open the Big Ten season January 7 on the road at Penn State. After this season Hokenson will take the few courses he still needs to graduate and looks forward to the wedding, which is planned for July 17, 2004.
After graduation, Hokenson explained that he is open to any career path. "Sports and basketball is my passion, if I could do something in those areas, I would love it."
From running the offense on the basketball court to proposing on the volleyball court, Hokenson is one whose actions reflect his sincere personality and desire to be the best. His dedication to Gopher basketball as well as his devotion in other parts of his life, begin to illustrate his work ethic. Hokenson's hard work and positive attitude will prove to be the difference in whatever he does.
Written by Media Relations Student Assistant Kevin Morales. He welcomes comments at gophers@umn.edu.
When Wade Hokenson walked into the Sports Pavilion on October 31, he knew what he had to do. It wouldn't be the same old night out to watch the Minnesota Volleyball team play Wisconsin. On this night, Hokenson would do something in front of hundreds of people that makes most men nervous just thinking about. He proposed to his girlfriend.
"It was a long process" Hokenson explained. "I had to talk to Coach (Mike) Hebert and then I had to ask (Athletic Director) Joel Maturi, then I had a couple meetings with the marketing people for the volleyball team." After all of that preparation and planning, the stage was set for Hokenson to ask the most important question of his life.
The plan for this particular volleyball match, was to honor senior outside hitter and Wade's girlfriend, Amanda Cipperly, for her hard work and accomplishments over the previous three seasons. When the match was finished, Cipperly was to go out on the court while a paragraph, which was written by Hokenson, was read.
"At the end of the game, they were gonna call her out to half court and do a little speech on her. In the last game of the match, when the Gophers were pretty close to winning, I started to get really nervous and I started sweating a lot. The game ended, they called her out to half court, and starting reading a little paragraph that I wrote about her."
Laughing, Hokenson recalls "I felt free to write myself into the paragraph. When they started talking about me, that's when I walked out there and when they finished...I proposed."
When asked why he decided to propose in this way as opposed to a more "traditional" proposal, Hokenson explained that this proposal suited both of their personalities better, adding "I just saw myself doing it that way, and I thought it was a cool idea." On the basketball court, Hokenson is much more comfortable than he was that night proposing in front of a crowd. A native of Watertown, Minnesota, he is in his fourth season with the Gopher Basketball team and is seeking a degree in mechanical engineering. While attending Mayer High School, he was a three-time academic honoree and has continued to excel scholastically at the University of Minnesota. While Hokenson plans on graduating after fall semester of next year, he admits that trying to balance athletics with academics hasn't been easy. "It's pretty difficult, especially at first. With my major of mechanical engineering, there's not a lot of flexibility with the classes you can take and when you can take them," he discussed. "With practice and games and then having to do homework, it just gets very tiring, a lot of nights I don't sleep very much, it just wears down your body a lot."
However Hokenson has dealt with the difficulties admirably while keeping a positive attitude. "It's not been easy, but I feel like if I can balance basketball and school, then I can pretty much do anything. I'm happy with the decisions I've made to stay with basketball and my major. I don't regret any of it."
Now that it is his final year of eligibility, Hokenson is concerned with being a leader on the team and doing everything he can to help the team improve. Despite not playing as many minutes as he may like, Hokenson is very self-driven and demands the most out of himself. "I still want to be the best basketball player that I can be" he stated. "Whatever I do, I've tried to be the best that I can be at it. I still go to practice, get better, be the best I can be."
This perspective has been beneficial for Hokenson and the rest of the Gophers team alike. While he pushes himself in practice, he also pushes the rest of the Gophers squad. "I do a lot of my leadership by example, but there is a vocal part of it where I may explain things to younger guys, or help people learn the offense, or encourage guys. But most of my leadership is by the way I conduct myself during practice, trying to lead by example."
When Hokenson began his career with the Gophers, there were certain players who helped him along and were leaders for him to look up to. "I would say there were three guys who I looked for to be leaders, J.B. (Bickerstaff), Terrance (Simmons), and Kevin Burleson. They would show you the ropes, they knew how things work. They taught you what kind of attitude you had to have. It was more of an attitude thing than a playing thing."
Now nearing the end of his career with the Gophers, Hokenson uses the leadership techniques he learned from them both during the games and in practice. His contributions every day have assisted in the Gophers 4-2 start this season and help make sure the team keeps improving.
As for the rest of the season, "I'm looking forward to playing Texas Tech. I haven't been there yet and I have relatives coming to the game." Hokenson commented. He also added "I love playing Michigan State and Wisconsin, those are probably my favorite two teams to play in the Big Ten...they are big games." Hokenson pointed out that it seems that those two teams are always scheduled during pivotal points in the season. "You always like to beat Wisconsin, so I enjoy playing them. Michigan State has been at the top of the Big Ten for a long time, so you're always shooting to top them."
Playing at Minnesota has been a positive experience for Hokenson, a fan-favorite, who added how important it was for him to be able to have family come to his games. "My parents come to almost every game. I have a huge amount of relatives and friends who have kept in touch and keep up with how the team is doing, it's nice that way. Hokenson admits that as a kid he didn't really think much about playing basketball for the Gophers and instead wanted to play at Michigan or North Carolina. "Now that I'm here I'm glad it worked out the way it did and not the way I wanted it to."
For the time being, Hokenson has two things on his mind, the remainder of the basketball season and his fiancé, Amanda. The Gophers open the Big Ten season January 7 on the road at Penn State. After this season Hokenson will take the few courses he still needs to graduate and looks forward to the wedding, which is planned for July 17, 2004.
After graduation, Hokenson explained that he is open to any career path. "Sports and basketball is my passion, if I could do something in those areas, I would love it."
From running the offense on the basketball court to proposing on the volleyball court, Hokenson is one whose actions reflect his sincere personality and desire to be the best. His dedication to Gopher basketball as well as his devotion in other parts of his life, begin to illustrate his work ethic. Hokenson's hard work and positive attitude will prove to be the difference in whatever he does.
Written by Media Relations Student Assistant Kevin Morales. He welcomes comments at gophers@umn.edu.
