University of Minnesota Athletics
Family Ties: Katie Ohm
11/9/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Katie had the opportunity to grow up around basketball. As early as second grade, she would keep track of stats for her older brothers’ high school basketball team, along with the head coach’s daughters. Katie’s brothers, Chuck and Joe, are 12 and 10 years older than Katie, respectively. With their experience growing up, it was hard for Ohm to miss out on sports.
“They actually had us do stats and stuff so it was kind of a unique story since I was in second grade. We’d say things like, I think they had more assists than that,’ and we’d add more to the number. It was definitely not right but they fixed it later. It definitely influenced me,” Katie said.
Currently, Joe is the basketball coach at Century High School in Rochester, Minn. But being a full-time coach didn’t limit him to working with just his own players. Even to this day, Joe plays a part in Katie’s development as a player.
“He can talk about basketball forever and so can (Chuck). He wants to know everything about every game, even our plays. He will contact our strength coach and he’s just really interested in everything about it. He tries to make himself a better coach at everything,” said Ohm.
She added, “He was the one in high school who would put me through workouts. It was crazy because I was really in shape. He would have me run the track with all the guys and we always went to open gyms. He and (Chuck) were the ones who did workouts with me. Especially when I was younger, back in eighth grade he would make me do conditioning that I actually wanted to do. They had quite the influence on me.”
Throughout high school, her siblings were there for her as well, constantly reminding her to keep her chin up and remain confident.
“They came to every game if they didn’t have to coach that night. They’d come and show their support. I would always talk to them after every game and if I had a rough game, they’d be the ones there for me and say things like, you’re fine don’t worry,’” said Katie.
Looking at the athleticism from the Ohm family tree, it remains easy to see why Katie came out of high school as the leading scorer in Minnesota basketball history, male or female. Her aunt, Elsie, was an All-American basketball player for Minnesota in the late 70’s. Brother Joe was drafted by the Chicago Cubs and spent time in the minor league system. Surprisingly, baseball wasn’t even Joe’s first sport. He attended the University of Wisconsin-Lacrosse to play basketball, but ended up in baseball. Throw in an older sister who played softball at St. Olaf and her other brother, Chuck, who played baseball and football at St. Olaf as well, and it becomes obvious why Katie has become the athlete she is today.
However, Katie knows that without certain sacrifices, she would not be in the position she’s in today.
“My parents were the ones who brought me to the tournaments that I’ve been playing in since about third grade traveling. They’d bring me to four hour practices and they’d sit there and paid for it. I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for them.”
The upcoming season brings experience for many Gophers’, which hopefully can bring them an NCAA tournament bid and even a Big Ten Championship. For Ohm, the opportunity to play last season will give her the chance to step up into a starring role this year.
“I think having a year under our belts will make things so much better. Last year, we didn’t know what to expect, as far as playing time and other things. Now I know my strengths, I know my weaknesses, and I know my role so it’s a lot easier in that aspect. I just know the team a lot better from understanding that the more you play, the better you get.”
Story written by Ben Flattum, Athletic Communications Assistant
