University of Minnesota Athletics
Outside the Paint with Joanna Hedstrom
1/12/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 12, 2016 
Joanna Hedstrom (Minnetonka, Minn.) is averaging career highs in scoring, rebounding and minutes played. She arrived at Minnesota as a point guard, but has been playing primarily in the frontcourt this season. Hedstrom is a marketing major in the Carlson School of Management.
After all the work you put in over the past several years, how does it feel to be getting the most playing time you've ever had?
It feels really great to contribute this year on the court. It's awesome to be able to play with my teammates. It does feel great to have the hard work paying off. Ultimately, I just want to help the team in any way. So it's been fun to score a few points and get stops on defense this year.
What are some or extra things you've done in the offseason or during the season to earn that court time?
I definitely have been working on getting stronger and getting bigger, and even just learning how to play bigger. I'm undersized a little bit in the post position, or I'm sometimes guarding girls who are bigger than me. But I've worked on constantly drinking protein shakes after practice and getting in the weight room, doing extra stuff there, and changing my mentality so I'm playing big on the court.
Whenever you're out there it seems like you're maximizing your time, diving on the floor and hustling. What's your mentality when you check into the game?
I've been so eager to get out there, so I've been trying to take advantage of the time that I have on the court. Every second, every minute I'm out there I want to be able to find opportunities to get the ball or get a rebound and find extra possessions for the team. Really I pride myself on doing the little things for the team, so that's what you see out there, is trying to put extra hustle into everything I do.
What's the toughest part of playing in the post, but also still playing at guard?
I like being a versatile player, just being able to challenge myself on the court and mentally thinking through, "What do I do at this position? How can I help the team at this position?" I am officially a guard, but I'm definitely playing post positions sometimes, too. I think I like the variety, and it's exciting to be able to apply myself in different ways.
Do you know all the plays pretty well from every position?
Yeah, I definitely am one to go to if you need to know what to do at each position.
You're one of the team's top students, earning Big Ten Distinguished Scholar honors last year. What was the best part about fall semester, and what are you looking forward to doing during spring semester?
I loved getting actually into my major classes. I had classes like marketing strategy and brand management that were really exciting, because that's what I came to Carlson to learn about. So the content was really exciting. Next semester, I'm looking forward to completing my honors thesis, and I'm also doing my study abroad that's required for Carlson. I'm doing it in May for two weeks in Spain, and it's brand communications.
Do you ever hear any good stories from your mom or about your mom's playing career for the Gophers?
It was alumnae day the other day, and some of her teammates who hadn't seen me play yet were amazed at how I reminded them of her. So that was something new that we'd never heard about. She always tell me stories of the benefits we get, like charter planes, and how they didn't have that. It definitely makes me feel grateful for the experience I have here at the U.
After all the work you put in over the past several years, how does it feel to be getting the most playing time you've ever had?
It feels really great to contribute this year on the court. It's awesome to be able to play with my teammates. It does feel great to have the hard work paying off. Ultimately, I just want to help the team in any way. So it's been fun to score a few points and get stops on defense this year.
What are some or extra things you've done in the offseason or during the season to earn that court time?
I definitely have been working on getting stronger and getting bigger, and even just learning how to play bigger. I'm undersized a little bit in the post position, or I'm sometimes guarding girls who are bigger than me. But I've worked on constantly drinking protein shakes after practice and getting in the weight room, doing extra stuff there, and changing my mentality so I'm playing big on the court.
Whenever you're out there it seems like you're maximizing your time, diving on the floor and hustling. What's your mentality when you check into the game?
I've been so eager to get out there, so I've been trying to take advantage of the time that I have on the court. Every second, every minute I'm out there I want to be able to find opportunities to get the ball or get a rebound and find extra possessions for the team. Really I pride myself on doing the little things for the team, so that's what you see out there, is trying to put extra hustle into everything I do.
What's the toughest part of playing in the post, but also still playing at guard?
I like being a versatile player, just being able to challenge myself on the court and mentally thinking through, "What do I do at this position? How can I help the team at this position?" I am officially a guard, but I'm definitely playing post positions sometimes, too. I think I like the variety, and it's exciting to be able to apply myself in different ways.
Do you know all the plays pretty well from every position?
Yeah, I definitely am one to go to if you need to know what to do at each position.
You're one of the team's top students, earning Big Ten Distinguished Scholar honors last year. What was the best part about fall semester, and what are you looking forward to doing during spring semester?
I loved getting actually into my major classes. I had classes like marketing strategy and brand management that were really exciting, because that's what I came to Carlson to learn about. So the content was really exciting. Next semester, I'm looking forward to completing my honors thesis, and I'm also doing my study abroad that's required for Carlson. I'm doing it in May for two weeks in Spain, and it's brand communications.
Do you ever hear any good stories from your mom or about your mom's playing career for the Gophers?
It was alumnae day the other day, and some of her teammates who hadn't seen me play yet were amazed at how I reminded them of her. So that was something new that we'd never heard about. She always tell me stories of the benefits we get, like charter planes, and how they didn't have that. It definitely makes me feel grateful for the experience I have here at the U.
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