42 // VARSITY February 27, 2014
T
wice in her life, Daria Kryuchkova didn't ex-
pect to continue her basketball career. The
first time was after high school when she got
a call to play at Jacksonville College in Texas. The
second was after her junior college career when
she got a call from the Badgers.
"I was online and Coach (Lynn) Nabi (from Jack-
sonville College) was really trying to bring Rus-
sian players to the United States," Kryuchkova
explained. "He called and said I will provide you a
full scholarship if you are willing to play, and I said
'Sure, why not' and I just came. I was working at a
hotel in Russia and did not think I could dream of
being in America."
The 6-foot-2 forward made her first trip to the
United States, traveling from her native Moscow, to
play with the Jaguars.
Kryuchkova came from a basketball family. Her
mother, Svetlana Konstantinova, was a member of
the Russian National Team but had to retire after
an Achilles injury. Kryuchkova actually started her
athletic career as a swimmer but switched to bas-
ketball in the seventh grade.
"My shoulders started to get really big and my
mom did not want me to have big shoulders, so
she said I needed to play ball," said Kryuchkova. "I
had three choices -- I could play volleyball, tennis
or basketball. My mom was a basketball player, so
she had more relationships and knowledge about
basketball, so I played basketball. I was also tall ―
not extremely tall, compared to my peers, but still
tall ― and I had potential to be a good basketball
player."
Kryuchkova had to adjust to America ― both on
the court and in the classroom.
"It was a huge difference from Russian basket-
ball to American basketball," Kryuchkova said.
"(It's) very aggressive, very fast. You make post
players run. We don't run very much. What we do
is rebound and pretty much do post work and de-
fense."
Kryuchkova averaged 3.9 points and 3.2 re-
FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE
Basketball helps Moscow native Kryuchkova live an American dream
BY DIANE NORDSTROM • UW ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS
