Not over it, but Printy's moved on

IOWA CITY - Two former dream-busters are now Jaime Printy's teammates.

There's Kelly Krei, whose Iowa City High team beat Linn-Mar in the 2008 state semifinals. There's Trisha Nesbitt, whose Ames squad foiled the Lions in the semis last year.

“There's a picture in (Nesbitt's) room of her celebrating after they beat us,” Printy said Wednesday at the University of Iowa women's basketball media day. “This summer, I took it down and put it behind her desk.”

Printy acknowledged she still hasn't completely gotten over the way her high school career ended. But she has moved on, literally and figuratively.

Wednesday, she wore the Hawkeye uniform in which she had visualized herself for years. She committed to Coach Lisa Bluder when she was a high school freshman - four years ago.

“I've always loved everything about this program,” said Printy, who will play shooting guard. “People always asked me why I committed so early. But I'm one of the biggest home bodies in the world. I don't think I could be anywhere else.”

Any position, any time

When Bluder shifted from a four-guard set to a three-out system midway through last season, Krei's minutes diminished.

Now a sophomore, Krei is willing to contribute, regardless of position.

“I'll do whatever Coach asks me to do,” she said. “We'll have to see where the pieces fall this year.”

The first order of business is to get healthy. Krei is working through a stress fracture in her left shin. She missed some preseason training but figures to be at full strength by the time the season begins.

As a freshman, she played in 27 games, averaging 2.8 points and 2.3 rebounds in 14.5 minutes per game.

“I've got a lot of faith in Kelly,” Bluder said. “She's a great athlete. She's a competitor. She works extremely hard. ---- “I think this year we'll be very versatile in our offense, and just having the five best players out there. I think that's going to help Kelly.”

Emmert is back

Former Hawkeye Abby Emmert is in her first season as director of operations.

Emmert played from 2004 through 2008 and was a co-captain her senior year when the Hawkeyes were Big Ten co-champions. She graduated from Iowa in 2008 and worked for the United Way of East Central Iowa before taking this job.