Oklahoma State University Athletics
Like Father, Like Daughter
February 03, 2020 | Cowgirl Basketball
If you walk into any given arena on a day when Cowgirl basketball is slated to take the court, you are almost guaranteed to see Jerry Winchester, father of junior Abbie Winchester, cheering on his daughter and her teammates. A self-proclaimed smaller version of her father, Abbie spent a lot of time with her dad as a little girl. The two could be found in the shop working on cars or playing sports, especially basketball, as Abbie grew up. The similarities don't end there, either.
Abbie is studying to be an industrial engineer, following a similar path to her father who is a mechanical engineer. Jerry, a former member of the Cowboy football team, even passed his love of Oklahoma State down to his daughter.
Abbie was raised a Cowboy fan from the start, going to countless OSU football and basketball games throughout her childhood. However, for Abbie, one trip to watch Cowboy basketball stands out.
She remembers attending a game with her dad and some of his friends in Texas. She had on her tiny backpack filled with all of the essentials, including crayons, colored pencils and coloring books. In the middle of his yelling and cheering, Abbie would ask for the next color she needed for her drawing.
"I would sit there and color, and my dad would hold the box of colors while he would stand and yell at the game, and I would look at him and say 'purple.'" said Abbie as she mimicked her father yelling at the court.
As Jerry recalls he also had to sharpen the colors throughout the game as she drew, in his words, "an elaborate drawing of the stadium." He remembers the Cowboys having a big lead at halftime but that they managed to lose the game. The part he remembers most though, happened when they got back on the charter bus after the game.
"We get on the bus and she's standing in the seat next to me and she says, 'Dad, I bet this is your best day ever,'" Jerry said, laughing. "She put the day in perspective. Of course, she was there to cheer on the Cowboys, but at the end of the day she was coloring, and she was just happy we were all together."
Little did they know that the little girl who was more interested in coloring on that specific day than the outcome of the game would eventually follow in her father's footsteps and don the orange and black.
As Abbie got older and the recruiting process heated up in her final year of AAU basketball, she had become at peace with the possibility of having to attend another school. However, once Coach [Jim] Littell called and made her an offer, Abbie felt like it was inevitable that she would end up at OSU.
Jerry remembers the day Abbie told him and her mom that she was going to OSU, and the curious way she handled it. He recalls sitting and eating breakfast while on vacation in Colorado when Abbie asked which coach he would call first, the school where she was going or the school she would ultimately turn down. He said if he was in her shoes, he would call the coach where he would want to commit to and make sure the deal is still good, then Abbie simply went back to eating breakfast without saying anything else. After breakfast, he remembers the moment Abbie said she was going to call Coach Littell, and the excitement he felt when she put the phone on speaker for her family to share the experience with her.
With their connection as student-athletes, once Abbie got to campus she remembers relying heavily on her father when times were tough. She remembers calling her dad three or four weeks into her freshman year and saying it was hard and she had no idea how she was going to be able to make it for four years.
"He told me that I just had to get through the first year, then I would be fine," Abbie said. "He was very supportive and told me that I just had to bear down and do it."
Despite the seriousness of the tough times during her first year, her father's advice and previous experiences provided the light at the end of the tunnel she needed.
It is definitely not always serious business between Abbie and her dad. The two are very competitive and it's almost certain that when they are spending time together, their competitive spirits come out in full force. No matter the sport or even the board game, the two don't like to lose.
"We have a lot of little family things that we definitely are very competitive about," Abbie said. "When I was in middle school, we got a Wii, which was the worst idea ever because my dad decided he was just going to annihilate all of us in Wii tennis, which he did."
Her father can attest to the competitiveness, and even admitted there are some games they can't play anymore because somebody has to lose, which isn't always pretty.
"It doesn't matter what sport it is, or if it's the Wii," Jerry said. "It's almost like if we are playing dominoes, it's full-contact dominoes. If you're not winning, you're losing and then the smack talk comes into it."
It's easy to see the special bond Abbie and her dad have created through Oklahoma State, sports and similar experiences they have both endured. Abbie's parents rarely miss a game, and they cherish having Abbie close to home and being there every time she steps on and off the court. They have traveled thousands of miles over many years to spend time with Abbie and support her dreams and love of basketball. All you have to do is look in the stands to see a dad that is proud of his daughter.
"I've always told her, whether we win or we lose, if you're giving good effort that's all I want to see," Jerry said. "At the end of the day, I'm just as equally proud of what kind of student she is and how she is doing in school."
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Abbie is studying to be an industrial engineer, following a similar path to her father who is a mechanical engineer. Jerry, a former member of the Cowboy football team, even passed his love of Oklahoma State down to his daughter.
Abbie was raised a Cowboy fan from the start, going to countless OSU football and basketball games throughout her childhood. However, for Abbie, one trip to watch Cowboy basketball stands out.
She remembers attending a game with her dad and some of his friends in Texas. She had on her tiny backpack filled with all of the essentials, including crayons, colored pencils and coloring books. In the middle of his yelling and cheering, Abbie would ask for the next color she needed for her drawing.
"I would sit there and color, and my dad would hold the box of colors while he would stand and yell at the game, and I would look at him and say 'purple.'" said Abbie as she mimicked her father yelling at the court.
As Jerry recalls he also had to sharpen the colors throughout the game as she drew, in his words, "an elaborate drawing of the stadium." He remembers the Cowboys having a big lead at halftime but that they managed to lose the game. The part he remembers most though, happened when they got back on the charter bus after the game.
"We get on the bus and she's standing in the seat next to me and she says, 'Dad, I bet this is your best day ever,'" Jerry said, laughing. "She put the day in perspective. Of course, she was there to cheer on the Cowboys, but at the end of the day she was coloring, and she was just happy we were all together."
Little did they know that the little girl who was more interested in coloring on that specific day than the outcome of the game would eventually follow in her father's footsteps and don the orange and black.
As Abbie got older and the recruiting process heated up in her final year of AAU basketball, she had become at peace with the possibility of having to attend another school. However, once Coach [Jim] Littell called and made her an offer, Abbie felt like it was inevitable that she would end up at OSU.
Jerry remembers the day Abbie told him and her mom that she was going to OSU, and the curious way she handled it. He recalls sitting and eating breakfast while on vacation in Colorado when Abbie asked which coach he would call first, the school where she was going or the school she would ultimately turn down. He said if he was in her shoes, he would call the coach where he would want to commit to and make sure the deal is still good, then Abbie simply went back to eating breakfast without saying anything else. After breakfast, he remembers the moment Abbie said she was going to call Coach Littell, and the excitement he felt when she put the phone on speaker for her family to share the experience with her.
With their connection as student-athletes, once Abbie got to campus she remembers relying heavily on her father when times were tough. She remembers calling her dad three or four weeks into her freshman year and saying it was hard and she had no idea how she was going to be able to make it for four years.
"He told me that I just had to get through the first year, then I would be fine," Abbie said. "He was very supportive and told me that I just had to bear down and do it."
Despite the seriousness of the tough times during her first year, her father's advice and previous experiences provided the light at the end of the tunnel she needed.
It is definitely not always serious business between Abbie and her dad. The two are very competitive and it's almost certain that when they are spending time together, their competitive spirits come out in full force. No matter the sport or even the board game, the two don't like to lose.
"We have a lot of little family things that we definitely are very competitive about," Abbie said. "When I was in middle school, we got a Wii, which was the worst idea ever because my dad decided he was just going to annihilate all of us in Wii tennis, which he did."
Her father can attest to the competitiveness, and even admitted there are some games they can't play anymore because somebody has to lose, which isn't always pretty.
"It doesn't matter what sport it is, or if it's the Wii," Jerry said. "It's almost like if we are playing dominoes, it's full-contact dominoes. If you're not winning, you're losing and then the smack talk comes into it."
It's easy to see the special bond Abbie and her dad have created through Oklahoma State, sports and similar experiences they have both endured. Abbie's parents rarely miss a game, and they cherish having Abbie close to home and being there every time she steps on and off the court. They have traveled thousands of miles over many years to spend time with Abbie and support her dreams and love of basketball. All you have to do is look in the stands to see a dad that is proud of his daughter.
"I've always told her, whether we win or we lose, if you're giving good effort that's all I want to see," Jerry said. "At the end of the day, I'm just as equally proud of what kind of student she is and how she is doing in school."
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