Athlete Spotlight: Hussey Ready for Show-Stopping Senior Year

Being a daughter of a basketball coach, Landri Hussey has always grown up around the sport. Since childhood, she’s developed a love for basketball, and spends the majority of her time around it. Hussey is 17, and a senior at Watonga High School. She enjoys hanging out with her friends and spending time with her family, but her favorite hobby is basketball.

Landri started playing at a young age, and she grew up around it. Her dad, Ty Hussey, is a former basketball coach. So inevitably, she ended up pushed into the basketball scene. She was always at her dad’s games, and oftentimes followed in her older sister's, Emma’s, footsteps. Her biggest influence through the sport has been her dad. “He puts a lot on me to be the best I can be,” she said. He also encourages her to put in the extra work when she has down time.

“If you wanna be the best, you’ve gotta work to be the best,” Landri said. She also looks up to her older sister. “She inspired me to like, get after it,” she said about Emma’s influence. Her mom, Kodi Hussey, has helped her with confidence. “She’s my biggest fan.”

Landri had heart surgery last spring to fix her Ventricular Tachycardia, or an abnormal heart rhythm. She struggled a lot with this in cross country but also in practice for basketball. After the surgery, Landri described herself as a “different person.” The recovery wasn’t too bad for her, and she now feels way better through sports.

This season has been a good one so far for Hussey, as she’s finally found the confidence and leadership she’s been striving for for years. “We’re working good as a team. There’s some things we need to work on, but as the season comes, more experience with everyone working together, it’ll be better,” Hussey said about the team. When asked about how she felt about being a senior this year, Hussey said it’s “crazy” how the time flies.

“It went by really fast. I’m ready, but it’s crazy.”

Hussey is a team captain, and takes that role very honorably. She wishes to be a good role model for the other girls, and give them the opportunity to look up to her throughout the season. So far, the Lady Eagles have a 6- 2 win-loss record. They faced tough teams so far, but Hussey has stayed optimistic. Landri hopes to keep scoring as much as she has been lately, and become a Defensive MVP like she did last year. “The goal is to All-State, obviously, but it’s pretty high up there. And then, I wanna continue playing, so like college looks,” Landri said about her goals for this year.

Basketball has been a “life changer” for Landri. “If I didn’t play basketball, I don’t know what I would be doing. Like, it’s my life,” she said. The sport has been her main passion in life, and it’s made her learn to work hard and pushes her to be the best person she can be.

She also enjoys cross country, as it keeps her in shape for basketball and has helped her tremendously with mental toughness. Coach Jim Bob Coleman encouraged her to begin running in the third grade. “I would say Coach Coleman has helped me really like that sport,” she said. She looks up to him as a coach, as he’s shaped her since a young age in the sport. She’s unsure as to whether or not she would like to continue running in college, but she’s not shutting out the option completely yet.

She does, however, plan on playing college basketball. She doesn’t have a preference for where she plays at, she only wishes to “continue working.” She wants to get an education degree and follow after her parents’ footsteps in being a teacher, and perhaps a coach. Landri also plans on perhaps minoring in a degree in nutrition.