Former Chipola player Pace enjoying new role

After helping lead the Chipola Lady Indians to two state championships in 2006 and 2007, former star guard CJ Pace is now back at Chipola trying to help the current crop of Lady Indians to similar success.

Pace was a key player for the Lady Indians in both of her seasons at Chipola, averaging 10 points per game and making 71 3-pointers in her career in helping lead the school to a Final Four appearance in the NJCAA tournament in 2006 and a fifth-place finish in 2007.

She then moved on to play for the South Carolina Gamecocks for her final two years of college before playing two more seasons professionally in Portugal and Peru and then returning to her alma mater Shiloh High School in Snellville, Ga., as a volunteer coach.

This year, Lady Indians coach David Lane brought his former player back to Chipola as an assistant coach, which has allowed Pace to follow a dream she has had since a surprisingly young age.

“It’s funny because when I was 10 or 11, I used to go to a day camp during the summer, and even then I was trying to put together and team and be the coach,” Pace said. “It was indoors and not even a halfcourt, but I knew I wanted to get a team together and help them win. I was making fliers to see who was interested in playing basketball.”

Now 24, Pace is a part of a coaching staff in arguably the best junior college basketball conference in the nation, a fact that Lane said is not surprising to him in the least.

“You can tell with some of the kids who will end up going into coaching and who will not, and with CJ you knew that she would,” he said. “It was always something that she was eventually going to do.”

Lane said that perhaps Pace’s greatest value on this team is as a former player helping the current players understand exactly what is needed and expected from them on a daily basis.

“It’s an interesting dynamic having people who played for you come back because it gives the current players a little bit of a reference to go to when they’re trying to figure out what I’m saying or how I’m trying to say it,” he said. “CJ has a chance to kind of translate for them. It’s always an adjustment for kids coming in, so to have her as someone they can talk to and someone who knows how to deal with the kids is very helpful.”

Pace said it has also been an adjustment for her learning to work with Lane as opposed to playing for him.

“It’s very, very different now,” she said. “I enjoyed my time playing for him, but now I’m on the other side of everything, and I can see all the hours he puts in the office, waking up early and preparing practice schedules, getting on the phone and networking and getting contacts for potential players.

“He’s a great teacher and I’m learning a lot from him. I’m blessed and thankful for the chance. It’s a lot of work trying to find the pieces that fit and getting these guys ready to compete at the level we have to compete at in the Panhandle Conference. But I’m enjoying it.”

The Lady Indians opened their season Tuesday with a win over Brevard, and will make their home debut tonight at 5 p.m. against Orlando Extreme, and play again Saturday at 5 p.m. against Faith Baptist Prep School.