One conversation in Conley Chinn's freshman basketball season at Belmont changed the course of her college experience.
It's a moment Chinn can vividly recall four-plus years later. Now a 4.0 student who's been recognized nationally for her work on and off the court, she has helped elevate Belmont's program to new heights, highlighted by the program's first NCAA tournament win last year against No. 5 seed Gonzaga — another one of those unforgettable moments.
That experience, however, may have never happened for Chinn if not for a conversation she had her freshman season with Betty Wiseman, who founded the Belmont women's basketball program in 1968 and continues to serve as a mentor.
It was November. The season was getting ready to start. The Mississippi native was battling injuries and on the fence about whether to redshirt. She was also taking 16 hours of classes, which included biology and chemistry labs. She was homesick and beginning to question herself.
"I kind of got into this mindset where I was, like, 'This is going to be what the next four years are like. It's going to be hard, and I don't think I have what it takes,'" Chinn recalled thinking.
Around that time, Wiseman asked Chinn how she was doing in a monthly meeting with freshmen. Chinn gave the typical "I'm fine" response. Then Wiseman asked again.
"In that moment, I just let all of it go, and I told her everything that was going on," Chinn said. "She really took me under her wing and provided me with the resources to get the help that I needed. It got me talking with my coach and the older girls on my team with what had been going on. I was bottling it up and calling home about it, instead of trying to fix it. She really showed me how to lean on the beautiful community that is Belmont.
"From then on, I felt like I was on top of the world here and I can do anything."
Chinn and her program have accomplished quite a lot since then.
During Chinn's time at Belmont, the Bruins have won seven Ohio Valley Conference regular-season and tournament titles, and the fifth-year senior looks to add another in this week's conference tournament in Evansville, Indiana. Pursuing a bachelor's degree in psychology with a minor in physical science, Chinn has earned spots in the Alpha Chi and Psi Chi honor societies. She plans to attend medical school after Belmont to become a surgeon. Lastseason she was named a College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-American, theDivision I-AAA AthleticsDirectors AssociationWomen's Basketball Scholar-Athleteof the Year and the Ohio Valley Scholar-Athlete of the Year, the conference's highest individual honor.
While humbled by the awards, Chinn said the players before her set the program's standard. She's simply tried to live up to it, especially when it comes to community service.
"Giving back to the community is one of the foundations of this program," she said. "It's something that all the young women in this program who came before dedicated a lot of their time to. As I was a freshman and I witnessed our upperclassmen giving their all to community service, whether it was when they were with the team or on their own, it was something I realized I really wanted to do. I wanted to use this platform I have to give back and to be able to interact with people as a Belmont women's basketball player."
Chinn remembered going to Belmont's Community Connections Fair as a freshman and being so eager to get involved that she signed up for about 30 different groups. While she learned she would have to prioritize her passion, one group she did join quickly became an important part of her life: Best Buddies.
Among the organization's goals is to establish friendships for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Chinn was paired with Brissa, who's become part of the Belmont basketball team's family ever since. Chinn and Brissa's favorite get-together tradition is to get their nails done and then enjoy a Starbucks caramel Frappuccino.Their bond is more than Chinn could have ever imagined.
"Since our friendship began, it has changed my life and perspective on this world and has changed the way I interact with people and how I feel about people," said Chinn, whose team has been involved with Best Buddies, as well. "It has meant the world to me, and I think it has shown a lot of my teammates how involved we can be on campus. Even though we do feel like we're busy, there are some things we can be part of. We are more than basketball players."
Chinn and her team also have been involved with Harvest Hands, a local after-school program for prekindergarten through eighth grade students who interact with positive role models through the organization. Chinn said Belmont women's basketball head coach Bart Brooks reminds her and her teammates that their presence might trigger the first thoughts of going to college for these children, and not to take that lightly.
"We have a great responsibility of showing how amazing it can be and encouraging them to aspire to play college ball or go to college," she said. "It has been so much fun just because you can tell when we go, we get closer as a team because we get to share laughs with people from different communities, and it's just been a blast seeing the impact we can make around us."
A member of Belmont's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee throughout her career, including roles as vice president and its community service subcommittee chair, Chinn's also volunteered for People Loving Nashville and at the St. Bernard Academy. Add in her perfect grades and impact on the basketball court — she was named first-team all-Ohio Valley Conference last season — and it's easy to wonder how she manages it all so well.
Chinn said she's learned from some hard lessons as a freshman and now feels like she's a "professional at time management." She also credited a quote that Bart uses and she's taken to heart. It goes something along the lines of, "We're all going to be tired and need to sleep at night, but the person who works the hardest that day is going to sleep the best."
This mindset is one piece of Chinn's college experience that gives her confidence she's well equipped for life after sports, including medical school and, before that, the MCAT exam.
"It's taught me how to work on a team, which is something that I'll cherish forever. I've learned how to be with people from different backgrounds and how to work with people who might think differently than me, and I think that will benefit me greatly as I'm going through medical school or I'm in the workplace," she said. "With time management, I don't think I'll face a task ahead of me that I'm not going to be prepared for.
"What I've thought about is the worst in the past has not beaten me yet. Every challenge that I've faced that I thought was going to be the one to take me down, it hasn't yet, and I credit a lot of that mindset to Belmont."
While Chinn's current focus is on one task of reaching another NCAA tournament, she knows the end of her career is nearing. She's not exactly sure how she'll feel when and where it ends, but she knows she'll be thankful, especially for a small conversation that made it all possible.
"I know I'm going to miss being part of something so special," she said. "Belmont and basketball have provided me with a home, and it has just been such an incredible experience here. I've grown into a young woman I never imagined I would become. I've been surrounded by the best of the best people who have challenged me and loved me through my greatest moments and my worst moments. It has been an absolute blast, and I am heartbroken that five years has gone by so fast."
