 Lisa (Schmidt) '97 Graber scores two at the 1997 NJCAA Division II national tournament. |
 Lisa (Schmidt) Graber with her husband Tim and children Cody, 2, and Morgan, 4. |
by Phil Richard
For someone who has coached 21 seasons, the teams could easily become one big blur. But not for Joel Kauffman, who recently finished his 21st year as women’s basketball coach at Hesston. He sees uniqueness in each team, considers it a privilege to have been surrounded by successful players who are successful in life, and is always interested in what’s going on in their lives.
Coach Kauffman points to the 1995-96 squad (see back cover) as extraordinary, primarily because of what the 12 team members are doing today—four nurses, a physician, a surgeon, three teachers, a clinical counselor, a hairstylist, and a marketing executive turned full-time mother.
“This team was a wonderful group of young women who were successful at Hesston College and are successful now,” he said. “They were extraordinatory because they put the team first. They appreciated and respected each other and were as excited about another’s success as their own.
“I could talk all day about them,” Kauffman said. “The way they got along with each other also made them extraordinary. It was fun to listen and watch them interact.”
Lisa (Schmidt) Graber, at the time a freshman from Inman, Kan., agrees that the team was a close-nit group. “Most of us lived on the same floor and played basketball together. In fact, we did everything together and got to know each other.
“On the court, we were confident in our skills and didn’t think we could lose,” she continued. “We continue to believe in ourselves and that’s why we were and are successful.”
The team had a rough time early on, compiling a discouraging 4-11 record, but Kauffman had an idea “I thought this team had potential, so I took two players and switched their roles.”
Kauffman asked Shanna Roth, the tallest player at 6’1”, to move from the post to the perimeter. And he moved 5’8” freshman Janelle Yutzie (Salem, Ore.) to playing an inside game. “I had them playing in the wrong place,” he said. “It took 15 games to find out. Both played well at their new positions as time went along.”
Shanna (Roth) Heinz, then a freshman from Grand Island, Neb., remembers the switch well. “It turned out to be the biggest turning point in my basketball career,” she said. “I thought I might as well give it a try and experienced a freeing feeling, like I was where I was supposed to be. I played so much better. It was fun and I loved playing out there.”
The moves provided the necessary spark, and the team went on a 10-game win streak, ending the season 15-17 after winning the Region VI championship, and coming within one game of playing in the Division II NJCAA national tournament. The core of that team, including Roth, Schmidt, and Yutzie, returned the following season, and competed in the national tourney.
“A lot of the team’s success was because of the character of the players,” Kauffman said. “They persevered, hung together, and challenged each other.”
 Shanna (Roth) '97 Heinz in action at the 1997 NJCAA Division II National Tournament |
 Bart Heinz took this photo of Shanna (Roth) Heinz and their two sons, Connor, 3, and Bryce,1. |
Kauffman found himself at the center of those discussions. “I decided in the early 1990s that if I wanted to make coaching women’s basketball worthwhile, I needed to share my journey, my faith, and my experiences with the players and make myself vulnerable.”
Heinz confirmed the importance of those discussions. “We talked about everything you could think of,” she said. “We could be serious or absolutely silly. We loved talking with Joel, who gave us a unique perspective.”
Graber, her roommate for both years, called Kauffman “a great leader. We learned a lot from him,” she said. “The team meshed well and he was as much a part of it as anyone.
“I’ll bet most of his players still check in with him,” she said. “Especially when I coached women’s basketball for seven years, I’d call and ask him for advice on the game or about life.”
Both Heinz and Graber point to the importance of their two years at Hesston. “They were two of the best years of my life,” Heinz said. “I was busy, playing in two sports (also tennis), singing in Bel Canto Singers, and I still maintained an ‘A’ average. Both years were a blast.
“At Hesston, you’re surrounded with a lot of people of the same faith,” she said. “It’s your first experience away from home, you have to keep track of your studies, but you receive support from friends and teammates. So many things happen during those two years, and Hesston is a great place to experience all that.”
After her two years at Hesston, Heinz eventually graduated from Wichita State University with a bachelor’s degree in marketing. She served as director of marketing for a sleep diagnostic center in Wichita for two years.
Married to Bart Heinz in December 2002, Heinz now serves as full-time mother to Connor, 3, and Bryce, 1. They are expecting their third child in September.
While at Hesston, Graber’s schedule was even more demanding, playing basketball and tackling a nursing degree in two years. “I don’t think many people do that now,” she said. “But I like to have many things to do at once and manage my time. I also had nursing faculty, like Bonnie Sowers, who worked with me and believed in me.”
She admits the first semester was a huge adjustment, learning how to balance studies, basketball, and life in general. She also met her future husband, Tim Graber, a sophomore from Crawfordsville, Iowa, that first semester.
“I learned many lessons along the way, like time management, but God has a plan,” Graber said. “My parents gave me a great foundation spiritually, but I had to build on that. Hesston College cultivated that and kept me on base theologically.
“So much of my life now is connected to Hesston College,” Graber noted. “For example, I’m in Iowa because I met Tim at Hesston. I’m in nursing because of Hesston.”
Graber continues living with many irons in the fire. She passed the Kansas registered nurse licensure exam after her studies at Hesston College. Then she graduated from Bethel College (North Newton, Kan.) with a bachelor’s degree in nursing in 1999. Lisa and Tim married in June of that year and moved to near Wayland, Iowa, where Tim operates their turkey farm. They have two children, Morgan, 4, and Cody, 2, with a third child on the way in September.
Since 1999, Graber has worked part-time as an intensive care cardiovascular nurse at the University of Iowa Hospital in Iowa City, a 45-minute commute one way.
In addition, Graber started a new part-time job at the hospital early this year, operating a heart-lung bypass machine for pediatric and neo-natal patients with no other viable options. “I’m excited about it,” she said. “It offers a new challenge. And for me, it was time for something new.”