Veilleux’s play shows maturity Guard adapts to challenges

ORONO – Julie Veilleux and Sharon Versyp can’t help but chuckle when they think back to Veilleux’s first season on the University of Maine women’s basketball team.

Veilleux, then fresh out of Cony High in Augusta, was prone to launching quick shots from all over the court. That habit often landed her back on the bench beside her coach.

Veilleux has learned to take shots within the flow of the Black Bears’ offense, but that is only one small example of the growth and maturity she has demonstrated during four seasons as a mainstay in the UMaine lineup.

“Today, I’m begging her to shoot more,” Versyp said with a smile. “I’ve been like, ‘shoot, you have the green light to shoot any time.'”

The 6-foot-1 senior guard has not achieved the star status she enjoyed at Cony, but Veilleux’s willingness to work hard and adapt to the challenges of Division I college basketball have helped make her a shining example for the UMaine program.

“She’s just so coachable and incredibly steady and so consistent for us,” said Versyp, who “inherited” Veilleux in a talented recruiting class with Heather Ernest and Melissa Heon upon her arrival in Orono.

Veilleux has been one of the Bears’ top three scorers throughout her career, but her defensive play and many other contributions have made her invaluable to the team.

“Her growth has been so much fun to watch,” Versyp said.

Veilleux has saved her best for last. This season, she is averaging a career-best 8.1 points and 2.7 assists. She leads the team while shooting 85 percent from the foul line and is second from 3-point range at 41 percent. She also has significantly reduced her turnovers.

While Veilleux is never satisfied with her performance on the court, she hasn’t allowed statistics or UMaine’s won-lost record to define her collegiate career.

“This was like the dream, to come play college ball and to experience it,” said Veilleux, who has started all 26 games this season and 90 of 113 contests while with the Bears.

“You really learn a lot out of it, even though not everything’s a positive thing,” she explained. “It has prepared me, I think, for the future.”

Veilleux is now comfortable with her role as a swing player, which takes advantage of her outside shooting, along with her size and strength inside. It took some getting used to, especially after playing forward in Cony’s wide-open, unstructured offense.

She also has worked hard to develop her defensive skills, including footwork and positioning. Veilleux, who now often guards opponents’ top shooters, is UMaine’s best player at drawing player-control fouls.

“I have to focus on shutting my person down, getting rebounds, taking that charge that we really need,” Veilleux said. “It’s not all about scoring. There’s just so many other parts of the game.”

Veilleux has paid attention to a lot of the little things that make a difference.

“She does the intangibles,” Versyp said. “Her defensive performance from her freshman year to now probably has improved more than anyone. She’s one of our best defenders.”

Looking back, Veilleux attributes her versatility to the excellent coaching she received from Paul Vachon and the staff at Cony. But the hardest aspect of the transition to college was the mental aspect.

“I was confused a lot my freshman year,” she admitted. “I was trying to understand the game and the role and what [Versyp] was trying to build.”

Representing her family, her community, and her high school while playing at UMaine have been rewarding for Veilleux.

“It’s almost like I can give back, in a sense, and display all that I’ve become on the court for the state of Maine and represent Maine and try to make Maine a bigger program, take it as far as we can go with it,” Veilleux said.

While the basketball has been outstanding, Veilleux has the ability to put her four years as a student-athlete in more of a big-picture perspective.

“I think this experience and the people I’ve met and how I’ve grown as a person makes me feel confident,” said Veilleux, who hopes to become an elementary school teacher and a coach. “I’m thankful for going through what I’ve gone through.”

Through interaction with teammates and friends, she also has developed a meaningful relationship with God that continues to be her strength.

“I’ve come to learn, with my faith and my belief, that no longer is my identity in what my coach or other people think of me; it’s in the truth of what God says I am and how he loves me,” Veilleux said.