Slovakian star finally on court for Columbia

While most college athletes only dream of one day representing their countries in their respective sports, Lions’ junior guard Agata Jankova has already played for her native Slovakia in a major women’s basketball tournament—twice.

Jankova first competed for her country in the Europe Under-16 Championships in Košice, Slovakia. She was selected for the tournament based on her prior performance at a regional basketball camp in Slovakia.

“They established a center for really good players for each region, and they choose players to go there,” Jankova said. “We were like 50 girls together and from there the coach was able to pick whom he wanted to take.”

In a tournament field that included major European powers such as Spain and France, Jankova averaged a solid 9.9 points and 3.3 assists per game. While host Slovakia did not manage to win a medal at the tournament, Jankova found the experience beneficial.

“I got to work on my game in a different environment with a different coach. It was a big boost for my confidence­­­­—and I still have it,” Jankova said.
Jankova next played for Slovakia at the Europe Under-20 Championships in Morocco in 2010. Jankova had just completed her first year at Columbia and relished the challenge of playing with some of the best players in Europe.

“It was awesome since I was only playing with girls I had played with before, so the chemistry was there,” Jankova said. “Also, there was a lot of playing time in practice, and the games were international games so we were playing different teams from different countries who had different styles of play, so in that sense it was a really good experience.”

Jankova’s experience at the Europe Under-20 Championships after her freshman year helped her cope with a frustrating start to her Lions career. Upon her arrival in New York, Jankova was deemed ineligible to play by a now-rescinded NCAA rule. Since an athlete who had played on her amateur club team had also played professionally, the NCAA suspended Jankova for the first 48 games of her college career.

“It was really tough—at first I came here and everything was fine, and then somehow it came out of nowhere that there was this big problem,” Jankova said. “It was really unexpected, and it was tough at the beginning because I had to sit out six weeks with no practice, and I just had to watch my teammates practice and play.”

Despite the setback, Jankova powered through and maintained a positive outlook, according to head coach Paul Nixon.

“She did not do anything wrong, but she had a very good attitude in serving out the 48-game suspension the NCAA ruled she had to do and worked very hard in practice for us,” Nixonsaid.
The humorous outlook on life that brought her through the suspension also helped her adapt to living in the United States.

“She’s a very funny person,” junior guard/forward Tyler Simpson said. “She doesn’t talk very much, but she’s opened up a lot since freshman year, and I love being around her. When she first got here her English was a little shaky, but now she loves to tell stories about things going on in class and basketball and makes jokes with us.”

Jankova hasn’t completely assimilated to college play, though—she is averaging 1.6 points and 8.9 minutes of action in 10 games so far this season.

“Agi’s performance this season has been much like our team’s overall—very inconsistent, particularly on offense,” Nixon said. “She has looked great on the court at times, and other times she’s looked like a player who lacks confidence.”

According to Nixon, though, Jankova’s statistics don’t fully show the potential of a player who is strong on both the offensive and defensive ends.

“We as a coaching staff have great confidence in her ability to help us for the rest of this season and next year because she can score in a variety of ways, and she can defend both in the post and on the perimeter,” Nixon said. “If Agi can ever accept how good a player she has the potential to be, and not play timid and passive, she will really make an impact for us.”