Nov. 15, 2007

by Jeff Smith
Contributor, BigTen.org

Emily Fox is one of the most unique individuals you will ever meet. A junior on the Minnesota women's basketball team, Fox portrays the type of skills on the basketball court that would make any player jealous. She's quick, she has great vision, she can beat you both the right and the left hand, and can pull up from anywhere in the gym.

Her skills continue to be defined on the raised court at Williams Arena, as well as at home with 12 plastic cups.

Confused?

Since the third grade, Fox has been playing basketball and sport stacking - an exercise that involves stacking plastic cups into a cycle of different sized pyramids while racing against the clock.

Her father Bob Fox was her physical education teacher in elementary school and was fascinated by sport stacking when he was entertained by the unknown sport at a convention. His interest was peaked so much that he began to implement sport stacking into the criteria in his P.E. classes and soon it became a family business.

Sport stacking has become a sport that is gaining popularity all over the country and even the world. While it is still uncommon to many, once you see the practice it will leave you speechless. You will try to put into words what you just saw, but you can't.

Just watch Craig Ferguson of the CBS' Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson get destroyed by Fox in a segment that featured sport stacking in this YouTube clip

Fox was once the world record holder in sport stacking and her mark was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records. In addition to her Late Late Show appearance, she has appeared on the CBS Early Show, the Ellen Degeneres Show, the Best Damn Sports Show Period and Jimmy Kimmel Live, while also appearing in national magazines such as Newsweek.

Fox is often pitted against celebrities during her television appearances and even had the chance to battle R&B sensation Usher on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

"That was one of my most favorite experiences," Fox said. "I am a huge Usher fan. But I also taught Ellen how to stack as well as John Salley on the Best Damn Sports Show."

The Golden Gopher standout admits that her time spent at the sport stacking table has enabled her to work on her quickness and hand-eye coordination, which she was easily able to transfer to the basketball court.

A product of Highland Ranch, Colo., Fox brought her skills to Minneapolis after watching the Golden Gophers compete in the 2004 NCAA Women's Final Four.

"I wanted to go away from home and when I got here on my visit, the fan support, the team, and the tradition was great. This was the place I wanted to be."

Since arriving, Fox has played a key role in helping Minnesota to one of the top teams in the Big Ten.

She played in 27 games as a newcomer and started all 33 games last season, averaging 12.9 points per game. Her quick hands helped her to 131 assists last year, which is tied for the seventh-best single-season total in school history. For her efforts, Fox was named second team All-Big Ten by the conference coaches and as a third-team selection by the league media.

In addition, she played a huge role for the Gophers late in the season when Kelly Roysland was sidelined with a collarbone injury. During Roysland's absence, Fox averaged 18.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.8 assists in the four-game span. She recorded a career-high 30 points in the overtime win at Iowa and hit a buzzer-beater to give the team a win at Northwestern.

Her sophomore season ended with an invitation to join the 24-member Team USA squad for the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She scored a team-high 18 points in a win over Argentina and played in front of a hostile 13,000 fans during the matchup against host Brazil.

For once, Fox felt like an opponent walking into Williams Arena, where typically at least 10,000 Golden Gopher fans are cheering their team on.

"Yeah, usually the crowd is on our side," she said. "It was crazy playing there. They were even booing during our national anthem."

Still the summer in South America did a lot for Fox's game, including a boost in confidence which Minnesota head coach Pam Borton was happy to see.

"She walks around with a different swagger," Borton said. "It's given her a whole new level of confidence that she is one of the top 24 players in the country."

Fox feels that some things she learned this past summer can be brought back to the team.

"It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I got to play with the best players in the country and be coached by Dawn Staley," she said. "I learned a lot from them and feel like I can bring that back to my team here."

This season Fox is one of three team captains, joining senior Leslie Knight and Jordan Barnes, although Barnes will miss the season due to injury. Fox points out that everyone on the team will need to take a leadership role this season and that she plans to be more of a vocal leader. Last year Minnesota was the second-youngest team in the nation and suffered through injury setbacks through most of the year.

"I feel like we are so much more mature this year," Fox said. "We are just trying to get everyone involved and hold everyone accountable."

Borton rarely has to worry about Fox being competitive on the floor. She has inherited a talented individual who has been competing against the clock since an early age. Her ball handling, vision, focus and passing are all compliments Borton gives when dissecting Fox's game.

Basketball drills used to involve dribbling around chairs or barrels, but now stacking plastic cups into pyramids seems to work wonders.

Fox's talents do not stop at sport stacking and basketball, however. She is also an experience juggler and can ride a unicycle. And yes, she can do both at the same time. Heck, she's even famous enough to have her own Wikipedia page.

Many of her "sideshow" talents are taking a backseat to basketball this season. Fox is focused on being a leader and helping her team get back to winning Big Ten titles.

And to some that might say that the youthful roster and injuries have stacked up on the Gophers this year, Fox welcomes the challenge.

She's kind of an expert when it comes to things stacking up.