Listed at 5'5, Willamette's Victoria Nguyen is often the smallest player on the court during her basketball games. But you would never notice it, by the physicality and aggressiveness that she plays with.
“I don’t like looking or feeling scared when I’m on the court," Nguyen said. "So I go out there not scared. Even if I am scared on the inside, I go out there not looking scared.”
You may lose sight of her inside of the Willamette huddle, but out on the floor you'll hear her voice among any other on her team.
“She’s our vocal leader out there," said Willamette head coach, Danielle McBride. "She makes sure everyone is in the correct spots on defense. Chatting on the baseline and all that kind of stuff. Or even on the sideline when she’s out, she’s yelling at her teammates.”
Nguyen said, "Being vocal, talking, I guess involving everyone I would say is a big part in leadership for me.”
Despite being the leader on the team, she doesn't care to lead the team in scoring. Instead she prefers to facilitate on offense, and set up her teammates for easy baskets.
“I don’t need to do all the scoring, she said. "I don’t need to be like the highlight of the show or anything. I like getting the ball around and getting everyone involved, it makes everyone happy.”
McBride said, “She’s a super unselfish player in the best way possible. We have some really good shooters on the team and she has a really good way of finding them on the court.”
When she is not playing basketball, she spends her weekends working as a waitress in her mother's restaurant on West 11th Street in Eugene called the Vietnam Restaurant. Watching her mom run her own business has instilled a sense of ambition into Nguyen.
“She actually did a lot to get where she was," Nguyen said. "So just remembering her background it motivates me to keep going and going cause she wasn’t as privileged as me when she was a kid. So just being grateful for what I have right now, it means a lot.”
Nguyen will lead the Wolverines against South Medford Friday night at 6:45 p.m. at Willamette High School.