By Patrick McHugh
Few college athletes have their own fan page online.
Senior Lucia Pablos of the women’s basketball team is one of the few who does. She has a group on Facebook entitled “Fans of Lucia Pablos,” where her biggest admirers gather to celebrate her excellence on the hardwood.
But Pablos said the fame has not gone to her head.
“That page began as a joke by my friends,” Pablos said. “They thought it would be funny if they made a place where they talked about how good I was. I think it’s silly but it’s nice to have at least some fans who appreciate me.”
Although her head coach is not part of the group, she has declared herself a fan of Pablos in her own right. Daynia La-Force Mann has coached Pablos for two years, and has noted what an advantage it is to have the senior guard on her team.
“Lucia is a leader both on and off the court,” La-Force Mann said. “She’s a strong young woman with a never-give-up mentality, never hang your head. She would show up early for practice and stay late afterward to get extra work in. The team followed the example she set and that helped in our success.”
Born in Leon, Spain, Pablos was introduced to the sport of basketball by her friends, who played often when she was younger. Soon the game became her passion. She played with club team C.B. Aros for six years and prepped at Colegio Leones Milagrosa in Leon. Despite her prowess on the court, Pablos was reluctant to pursue a career overseas until a friend convinced her.
“I met a player at a summer camp and she was just a great player, eventually playing professionally I think,” Pablos said. “We got to talking about basketball in America and she said it would be good for me to play in college in the US. I figured it was a unique opportunity and when I saw that Northeastern was interested in me I decided to come to Boston and play.”
Joining the team in January 2005, Pablos was immediately put to work, playing in the team’s final 19 games of that season, starting in 13. Her sophomore year was hampered by an early-season injury that caused her to miss the first eight games.
La-Force Mann took over the coaching duties starting with the 2006-07 season and Pablos promptly had the best season, statistically, of her career. Averaging 13.5 points per game, Pablos was 15th in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) in scoring and ninth in the conference in assists with 103 on the season. She made most of her work from the free throw line as she connected on 104 attempts – the most in school history. Pablos collected 101 rebounds on the year and almost never left the court as she averaged 36 minutes per game.
It is her senior year, however, that her coach believes was the most significant. The Huskies struggled early on and at one point endured an eight-game losing streak. But Pablos and fellow senior captain Stefanie Hodell would not allow the losing to continue.
“It would have been easy for the team to pack it in and just accept not being very good, but Lucia and Stefanie wouldn’t let that happen,” La-Force Mann said. “They held team meetings and helped the younger players get on board with the system. The team worked even harder and focused on the fundamentals such as rebounding and passing. The team bought in and allowed us to turn our season around.”
Northeastern rebounded from that rough start to win seven consecutive games before losing a tough one-point contest to Virginia Commonwealth in the CAA quarterfinals. The 14 wins posted by the team are the most since the 2004-05 season in America East.
“We had a young team and I had to help set an example for them to follow,” Pablos said. “The transition from high school to college can be difficult so it took them a while to get used to a new system and practicing at a high level all the time. Once everyone got used to playing with one another, we got back on track.”
Although her basketball days at Northeastern are finished, Pablos continues to stay active. She describes herself as someone who loves sports and continues to play pick-up tennis and soccer games.
In her free times she said she likes hanging out with friends and teammates and enjoys the company of others.
As for her education, she is planning on getting a degree in economics that will give her lots of options for the future, she said. She said she hopes to do a lot of travel in her work and preferably become employed with a major company.
Pablos’ departure from the hoops team is a significant loss. As her coach points out, Lucia was committed to the team in everything she did.
“This team will miss Lucia’s work ethic and the spark and attitude she brought to the game,” La-Force Mann said. “She gave 110 percent all the time and wasn’t afraid to be vocal with the team. Not many players are willing to lead a team that way but she was.”
For Pablos, the chance to play in America is reason enough to be thankful.
“I’m definitely going to miss my teammates but I’m also going to miss the atmosphere,” Pablos said. “I’ll miss the college life and all the experiences I’ve had. In Spain if you play basketball and you’re good enough, you skip college and go right to the professionals. Not many get to enjoy the time playing in college and I’m just lucky to have been one who did.”
