Page Proud To Be First Husker Basketball Medalist

By Jeff Griesch
Huskers.com

On Sunday evening, before Nebraska women's basketball's newest crop of Huskers got set for the first day of fall classes, Husker Sports Network radio broadcaster Matt Coatney had an opportunity to speak to the team and booster club members for a few moments about Husker Olympic bronze medalist Danielle Page.

Coatney told a story of a skinny, young 13th-grader from Colorado who didn't know much about the world at large and wasn't sure she was really supposed to be a basketball player at Nebraska as a freshman. She was challenged by breathing problems and challenged even more by an inconsistent jump shot as a 6-2 freshman forward. As her career continued, she was challenged the most by a torn ACL suffered early in a summer that threatened an entire season.

However, the story of Danielle Page in her college career became about how she encountered these challenges head on and not only overcame them, but learned from them and allowed those lessons to affect all areas of her game and her life in a positive way.

As Coatney's story came to a close and tears started to swell in his eyes, he related how the best moment of his broadcasting career occurred on Saturday afternoon (Aug. 20), when minutes after Danielle won a bronze medal with Serbia, her mom Lynn called him on the phone from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, searching for words to express her excitement, amazement and pride for her daughter's accomplishment.

Nebraska's new head coach Amy Williams and the Huskers took in the story with smiles. It was clear that many of the Huskers had been following Page's journey with some pride and wonder of their own.

Page, who was a four-year letterwinner at Nebraska from 2005 to 2008, has stayed as close to the program as she could while maintaining a professional career overseas for the last eight years. Her father, Fred, and his wife Diane and their sons, Cliff and Brady, have attended Nebraska games when the Huskers have ventured within driving distance of their home in Virginia.

Serbia's trip to Rio was like a family reunion for the Page's, with 11 members of Danielle's family following her journey every step of the way, and she, her father Fred, and her mother Lynn, made sure her Husker family was involved as well.

"It is indescribable the feeling I have right now," Danielle said just hours after the bronze was placed around her neck on the medal stand. "I am so absolutely blessed to have gotten this opportunity to represent Serbia in the Olympics and win a bronze medal. It is Serbia's first Olympics and to be able to take home a medal is truly history! And to be the first Husker women's basketball player to earn an Olympic medal is pretty amazing considering all the incredible girls that have come through the Nebraska program. I am just happy to continue to represent Nebraska no matter wherever I go." 

Fred, who was overwhelmed with joy while providing well-documented support for the entire Serbian team during their run in the Olympics, recognized the importance of every stage of Danielle's life and basketball career. 

"Danielle has filled us with tremendous pride and joy since she was just a little kid," Fred said. "I told her after the game today I remember the day she was born and holding her and thinking, look at this little baby girl…I wonder what she will do some day? And now look at her, and what she has done. I am the proudest Dad on the face of this Earth right now. We are proud of her athletic accomplishments, but we are equally proud of what she does off the court. The person she is in the community, the good big sister and role model she is, her academic accomplishments and degree from the University of Nebraska. We are grateful to everyone in Lincoln who helped make this day possible for Danielle. You all were with us today and share in this accomplishment. We are very fortunate and blessed  to have been here to enjoy these Games. It's been an experience of a lifetime. We will always remember these two weeks."

Lynn shared similar appreciation and recognized the importance of facing challenges head on in helping Danielle mature and accomplish this historic moment.

"Words really don't describe how proud and just elated we are for Danielle. She has worked so hard, for so long with sometimes challenging medical situations and for every day of her giving it her all when she might not have felt like it," Lynn said. "For us driving her to practice and sacrificing our vacations and everything, it paid off; not many athletes or people and families ever get that reward. Although there were many logistical challenges in lodging and movement about the city of Rio and the venue locations, I know that there isn't one of us that would trade it for the world. Her Serbian teammates were hugging us and calling me 'Mom' as I was representing all the moms that wanted to be there. Not to mention the amazing love of the extended family biological and otherwise including the Husker Nation contingent that shared it all with is virtually. You can never put a price on having so much 'family.'"

Danielle Page is hugged by her father, Fred, and mother, Lynn, following Serbia's upset of Australia on Aug. 16. Danielle's younger brothers Cliff and Brady celebrate in the background.

Danielle, who made Serbia her adopted home country in the spring of 2015 before joining them to win the EuroBasket Final over France to qualify Serbia for the Olympics for the first time, said Serbia adopted her family during the Olympics and treated them with amazing respect during the two-week long games.

"The Serbian Olympic Committee and especially the Serbian basketball federation went out of their way to make sure my family had whatever they needed this trip," Danielle said. "They have been so generous. The president of our federation actually bought the game tickets for my family for the last three games and made sure they were the best seats in the house. Additionally, our president also secured tickets to the gold medal game for my family just so they could watch the medal ceremony after the game. I cannot thank our Olympic Committee or our basketball federation enough for all they have done for my family here in Rio."

Fred, a retired Colonel in the U.S. Air Force, was decked out in Serbian red and white throughout the games. Lynn proudly carried a big-head face of Danielle while regularly standing side-by-side with her ex-husband at every game. They appeared regularly on the television broadcasts of the game, wildly cheering on Team Serbia.

Following world No. 14 Serbia's 73-71 win over No. 2 Australia in the Olympic quarterfinals on Aug. 16, Fred and Lynn were in tears hugging Danielle after the game. After Serbia's 70-63 win over No. 4 France in the bronze medal game on Aug. 20, the entire Serbian team gathered in front of the Page family and posed for photos of the first Olympic women's basketball medalists in Serbian history.

"This is such a big event in my basketball career and in my life, so to have my family here to share that with me is just incredible," Danielle said. "I am so lucky that they cleared their schedule and came all the way to Rio to support me in this tournament. 

"My Serbian teammates from the very first day made me feel welcome on the team. All the girls made a point to make sure I was comfortable and everything I needed was taken care of. This is such an easy team to play with because all these girls are such incredible talents. Offensively and defensively everyone reads the game so well that all you have to worry about is being in the right spot and doing your job and everything else will fall in to place."

Lynn said the mutual respect and support between Danielle and her Serbian teammates made them all stronger.

"The Serbian ladies on that team and their fans, coaches and leadership have true passion and love for Danielle, and I know it is reciprocated. They haven't done anything easy in this entire run for a medal starting with last June. There isn't anything they can't accomplish together, and I know they all believe it and that is what makes them unique and stronger than they were given credit for coming into the Olympics." 

Although Serbia made its historic Olympic run with talented players like Jelena Milovanovic, Sonja Petrovic and Ana and Milica Dabovic the Serbs were still overwhelming underdogs in the tournament. A fact not lost on an experienced and astute basketball observer like Fred.

"This Serbian team is amazing. When we watch them we feel like we are rooting for Rocky. They are smaller than most every team they faced, but they were tougher and had more heart than everyone," Fred said. "In the end, that helped them battle to victory and an Olympic medal. The ability to fight through adversity was something Danielle learned at Nebraska. Today that training served her well and prepared her to help her team win."

The accomplishments of the underdog Serbians and Danielle cannot be overstated, and the surreal feeling was not lost on her when she woke up the morning after winning the Olympic bronze medal.

"It's still unreal to me. I woke up this morning and the first thing I did was check to still see if I had an Olympic bronze medal," Danielle said. "I don't think the weight of what happened has fully hit me yet, but I can tell you I have never been this happy about something I have done on the basketball court ever before!" 

Danielle Page poses with her brother Brady (10) after the women's basketball medal ceremony at the Rio Olympics on Saturday, Aug. 20.