By: Riley Zayas, The Scoop on Women's D3 Hoops

For Jaycie Christopher, there was a moment when it became clear she belonged at the University of Southern Maine.

On a campus visit as a transfer portal prospect, the 6'0 guard was walking around with a few current players who, although she didn't know it then, would soon become her teammates.

They were talking about the USM program, one whose tradition featured three national title game appearances and current success coming off an 18-win season in head coach David Chadbourne's second year.

Then one of the players said something that stuck with Christopher.

"She said, 'It is a privilege to play for Coach Chadbourne,'" remembers Christopher, who at the time had just wrapped up her third season playing at Division I Maine. "The way they talked about each other and their coaches really stood out to me. Knowing that everybody wants to compete, play hard, and play for each other says a lot."

It didn't take long for her to decide on playing her senior year for the Huskies. In his three years as head coach, Chadbourne has brought in several remarkable talents, helping take USM from a team that finished five games below .500 the year prior to his first season to one that opened its current campaign by winning 13 of its first 14 games.

But none have generated the sort of buzz that Christopher's commitment did when it was announced in mid-April. News station WBAI out of Bangor ran a segment on it. Two of the biggest newspapers in the region—the Kennebec Journal and the Daily Bangor News—ran stories on the in-state transfer going from the University of Maine to Southern Maine. Because Christopher's notoriety in Maine went beyond her having appeared in 82 career games for the state's lone Division I program.

She was also the Maine Gatorade High School Player of the Year and Miss Maine Basketball Player of the Year in 2022, the same year she led Skowhegan High School to its first state title. In a state that has produced NBA No. 1 draft pick Cooper Flagg and 2023 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Mackenzie Holmes in the last five years, there is immense attention on its former high school stars, and Christopher was no exception.

There are plenty of players who would've let the headlines go to their head. But that isn't who Christopher is, and Chadbourne recognized that from the very beginning.

"I've had a bunch of transfers, and a lot of times it doesn't work out, especially when they're transferring down from a higher level," Chadbourne, who previously spent 24 years leading the men's program at D2 Franklin Pierce University, said. "A lot of those kids come in with a sense of entitlement, and there's some ego involved. Neither one of these kids [Christopher and D2 transfer Avah Ingalls] have any ego whatsoever. It just made the transition so smooth."  GO TO FULL ARTICLE (FREE)