Emily Ladd continues to develop her role as a team member since Indiana University South Bend.
After an illustrious four-year career for the women's basketball team from 2001-05, Ladd took her team-first mentality, leadership and competitive drive into her professional career with the Charlotte Hornets.
The Kokomo, Ind. native put the Titans in the rearview as one of the most prolific players in IU South Bend lore, sitting fifth in all-time scoring (1513) and is the third all-time rebounder (805). Ladd also holds the single-game scoring record, having registered 40 points on Feb. 24, 2004.
Upon graduating in 2005 with a double major in business and advertising at IUSB, Ladd headed to Indiana State where she earned a master's degree in recreation in sport management just two years later.
"At that time, the only way to get a degree that concentrated in something sports related was to get an advanced degree and I really wanted that concentration," Ladd explained.
As part of the curriculum for her master's degree she had to find an internship. Ladd landed a position with the original Hornets franchise, the Charlotte Bobcats, in event presentation.
During her playing days at Indiana University South Bend, Ladd was primarily a forward/center for the Titans. She understood her role and duties on the team, which developed during her time donning the Crimson & Cream.
"Everyone has a role on any team, and while you'll get the opportunity for your role to grow and develop, you know your team relies on you to fill a certain role to ultimately make your team better," Ladd added.
She was named First Team All-Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) on three different occasions, National Association of Intercollege Athletics (NAIA) Honorable Mention during her junior and senior seasons and was an NAIA Academic Scholar Athlete her final two years with the Titans. Ladd also helped the Titans appear in their fifth NAIA National Tournament during her senior year.
Fast forward 13 years and the former Titan is still a team member of the Charlotte organization, understanding her role as the Director of Game Presentation for the Hornets.
Ladd and her team's responsibilities are to manage and script all of the talent during a home game inside the Spectrum Center. This includes the entertainment and dance teams, Hugo the mascot, the DJ, the public address announcer, and all the performances during halftime and timeouts. It is their job to keep the energy up in the building.
"We want to create an excellent game experience for our fans. We want them to walk away like they had a good time while maintaining a home court advantage for our team," Ladd noted. "My team and I are in charge tracking all the inventory that needs to run so we can script out exactly what is going to happen from the moment the doors open, all the way through the game and to when fans are walking out the door."
For Ladd, it was about putting in the effort during college to find out what she was passionate about in regards to her career. During her time at IUSB, she interned with the South Bend Silver Hawks which since then has moved affiliates and is now the South Bend Cubs.
"College is the perfect time to figure out what you are passionate about," explained Ladd. "As a student-athlete you need to make the time to find an internship or develop experience so you can find what you are or are not interested in pursuing."
That gateway led her to where she is now but Ladd also believes that work ethic, attitude and being a team player is important in a career.
"Attitude and work ethic trumps experience," said Ladd. "Your experience is important and can show potential employers that you can handle the job but your attitude and work ethic around that job is what sets you a part from everyone else. Your work ethic can propel you forward but your attitude is going to tell you how far you can go with it."
That team first mentality, positive attitude and relentless pursuit of developing her role in the team is what has propelled Ladd forward after hanging up her Titan uniform.
