Glenn Connelly, Photo Editor

Kate Eveland’s basketball upside doesn’t lure scouts and coaches.

Her vertical leap isn’t exceptional. Her wingspan isn’t spectacular. She’s never the quickest player on the court.

Her potential, however, is through the roof. Business potential, that is.

Eveland, entering her senior year at San Diego State as an international business major, was elected into the Phi Beta Kappa honor society for her outstanding academic achievements. A Phi Beta Kappa member needs a GPA of at least 3.75 through 75 units. Eveland made the cut with a 3.77.

Not bad for someone who’s played every game for SDSU since arriving as a true freshman in 2004. That’s 83 games played while racking up five dean’s list nominations and a Malik Award in 2005, given to student-athletes with 4.0 GPAs.

It’s hard enough to get those grades as a student with no outside responsibilities, but 20 hours of practice per week and road trips increase the level of difficulty exponentially.

But if you ask her, it’s not that tough.

“Obviously you don’t have as much time to mess around, so you have to manage your time really well,” Eveland said. “But if you can do that, it’s not that much harder.”

Sure Kate.

Athletes, believe it or not, normally refrain from bragging about their accomplishments, but playing division I basketball while thriving academically is nothing to be timid about.

And as if her plate wasn’t full enough, a trip to Belfast, Ireland was slipped in because Eveland is required to fulfill a marketing internship abroad to meet her major requirements.

“(The trip is for) doing research for a manufacturing and distributing company,” Eveland said. “I (traveled) around Ireland too. (It was) really about getting experience in the international business world.”

After returning from the month-and-a-half trip, she’ll focus on her final season as an Aztec.

SDSU women’s basketball hasn’t been great during her tenure, but it improved last season and is expected to take another large step this year.

And Eveland is an integral part of the team.

Her statistics aren’t the stuff of legends – far from it – but her 6.6 points per game, three-point shooting ability and consistency are vital to the Aztecs’ development.

Her senior leadership also looms large when shots don’t fall and the baskets seem small.

Next season will be Eveland’s last playing organized ball, but she’s far from reaching her ceiling.

The world of basketball is large, but the business world is even bigger, and Eveland plans to explore it extensively.

“Basketball is something I love, but it’s really just a tool to help get a good education,” Eveland said. “When basketball is done, I’ll have my degree and start furthering my career.

“Basketball was great and I have no regrets about playing, but I have really high goals, and (business) was always number one.”