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68 ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 25, ISSUE 2 f HEALING CLEMONS READY FOR BIG YEAR Liza Clemons feels refreshed coming into her senior season. At least, as best as she can con- sidering the trauma she endured last year. It was about a year ago, in early October 2013, that her fi- ancé, Johnny Lee Upshaw, Jr., was murdered in a Fort Wayne area apartment, leaving her devastated as the season neared. While she suffered mentally, dealing with the loss of a loved one after such a horrific incident, she did physically, too, dropping 20 pounds in a matter of only weeks. It left her more suscepti- ble to injury, and by the end of the year she had a stress fracture in her leg and a sore back, leaving her barely able to function during the NCAA Tournament. Yet, she managed a successful season, averaging 9.4 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. Now, while Clemons still deals with the reminders of the past, she tries to focus on moving on, too. "Obviously, she's in a better place," Coach Sharon Versyp said. "… Now it's real. She was walking in a fog for a whole year, but it still hits her in waves. But she's an amazing leader for us, and that helps in her healing process too, that she can help others." Clemons did so in the offseason, interning at Bau- er Family Resources, an organization in Lafayette that serves the needs of at-risk children in the community. There, she says she helped develop children's activities. "I loved it," Clemons said. "I met some kids and this one little boy stole my heart." She's physically recovered, having gained the weight back — the stress of last season made her un- able to eat at times, especially in those first couple months — to give her a more Big Ten-ready presence on her 6-foot-2 frame. She feels stronger. "Hopefully," she said, laughing. "I won't be able to tell until I can keep some bigs out of the paint. But yeah, I've gained a little weight. I'm finally eating a lot more now and hopefully that can show. "I feel like I'm in a lot better shape than I was last year. I say that every year, but I think this preseason they got us in shape, got us running a lot. I can definitely feel that and hope I can take my game to another level this year." Being healthy would help. Through- out her career, Clemons has endured a shoulder injury, a stomach ailment, stress fractures and a bad back, but she's mostly played through the pain. She got particularly beaten up last season, limping her way through the last few weeks due to the leg injury, then taking a massive fall while try- ing to get a rebound in practice. That left her sidelined for a week with an ailing back, before she practiced only a couple times before the NCAA Tournament. She managed to play in both the games, not quite looking herself but averaging eight points and three rebounds in about 22 minutes per game. After the season, Clemons received the Methodist Sports Medicine Brady Comeback Award, due to her strong willpower in the face of tragedy. Since then, rest has helped Clemons heal and she's feeling good now. "Hopefully I can sustain it throughout the season," she said. And Clemons will continue to endure, memorializ- ing Upshaw — his case remains unsolved — as best she can during her senior season. "She's got something bigger to play for, so when you have that edge, you can't be stopped," April Wil- son said. "Liza is so mentally tough and that's one of the great things about her, she's not going to let anything cause her to waver or get her down. She's always going to push through. She's like our rock on the team." — Kyle Charters Tom Campbell Liza Clemons endured a lot as a junior, but she's heathier now — both mental- ly and physically — and ready for a big senior season.