The Rebounders

A Division I Basketball Journey

By: Amanda Ottaway

Narrated by: Andrea Watkins Palacio

Unlike the stories of most visible division I college athletes, Amanda Ottaway’s story has more in common with those of the 80 percent of college athletes who are never seen on TV. The Rebounders follows the college career of an average NCAA Division I women’s basketball player in the 21st century. It begins with the recruiting process when Ottaway is an eager, naive teenager and ends when she’s a more contemplative 20-something alumna.

Ottaway’s story, along with the journeys of her dynamic Wildcat teammates at Davidson College in North Carolina, covers - in engaging detail - the life of a mid-major athlete: recruitment, the preseason, body image and eating disorders, schoolwork, family relationships, practice, love life, team travel, game day, injuries, drug and alcohol use, coaching changes, and what comes after the very last game.

Most college athletes, famous or not, play hard, get hurt, fail, and triumph together in a profound love of their sport and one another, and then their careers end, and they figure out how to move on. From concussions and minor injuries to classrooms, parties, and relationships, Ottaway understands the experience of a Division I women’s basketball player firsthand.

The Rebounders is, at its core, a feminist coming-of-age story, an exploration of what it means to be a young woman who loves a sport and is on a course of self-discovery through that medium.

The book is published by University of Nebraska Press. The audiobook is published by University Press Audiobooks.

Praise for the book:

"A must for anyone interested in college athletics." (Book and Film Globe)

“Captures the spirit of collegiate sport with both candor and joy.” (Madeleine Blais, Pulitzer Prize winner and author of In These Girls, Hope Is a Muscle)

"Captures the feel of the game, literally, in the swoosh of the ball through the net, and figuratively, as a metaphor for love itself." (BookMark)

©2018 Amanda Ottaway (P)2020 Redwood Audiobooks

Great book

This was a nice look inside the mind of a fellow former womens hooper and it also gave me some good ideas of things to do and to avoid as a head coach. I really enjoyed this and will most likely buy the hard copy to keep in my collection. I thought the narration would have come across a little better from a younger narrator, or someone who knows basketball and knows how to properly pronounce Jay Bilas' name ;) Great job Amanda!

Wanted to listen without stopping!

I thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook: it’s a good story, well written, well read, with lots of insight into women’s collegiate sports and the challenges of participating at a small college level. Honestly, I found the issues with the coaching staff shocking, and hoped that the women at my small college (Holy Cross in Worcester, MA, which also had a history of strong men’s basketball teams, transitioning to a coed school in the early 70’s) had more compassionate coaching staffs guiding them!

Andrea Watkins’ performance feels genuine, bringing to life the emotional colors of Amanda Ottaway’s experiences as expressed in the book. I found it hard to turn it off for other demands on my time.