Carlee Roethlisberger has proven she's more than 'Big Ben's' Little Sister

Joey Helmer
FOXSportsSouthwest.com Special Contributor
March 9, 2011


NORMAN, Okla. -- For Sooner Nation, Bruno Mars' "Just the Way You Are" brought tears to their eyes on Oklahoma's Senior Night presentation that sent off forward Carlee Roethlisberger along with guards Danielle Robinson and Lauren Willis.

But for Roethlisberger, it might as well have been her theme song for the past four years, or the rest of her life, for that matter.

She's had to adopt the chorus, "Cause you're amazing, just the way you are," as her own motto in a sense.

"I mean, it's been tough kind of getting a rough start here my first couple years here, just trying to figure out my place, you know, in this program," Roethlisberger said.

And her place outside of brother Ben Roethlisberger, who has won a pair of Super Bowl rings with the Pittsburgh Steelers, the latest of which was in 2009 when the Steelers defeated the Arizona Cardinals on that epic pitch and catch from Ben to Santonio Holmes.

Ben, though, has been a huge part of making that happen for Carlee.

"He's always encouraged me," Carlee said. "You know, it's my time to do my own thing, and he's kind of, you know, led me, given me advice to get me to where I am, and now it's my turn to take over."

That's just what she's done once she made it to OU.

As for making it to Norman, that's an interesting story.

With respect to getting Carlee, head coach Sherri Coale speaks of one of the most bizarre recruiting stories in program history.

It started when Coale was at a coaching clinic in Ohio.

"I'm going through the coaches and one of them said, 'Have you seen the kid at Findlay (High School in Ohio)?'"Coale said. "And I said, 'No, I didn't even know what Findlay was. I could barely get to Ohio.'"

Then came another.

"And the next person in line said, 'Hey, have you seen the kid at Findlay?'" Coale said. "I was like, 'No.'"

And again.

"And when the third person asked me about the kid at Findlay, I said, 'Who's the kid at Findlay?'" Coale said.

Coale was in for quite a shock when the coaches behind her, Carlee's coaches from Findlay, revealed who their player was.

"I said, 'Well, what's this phenom's name?'" Coale said. "And they said Carlee Roethlisberger. I said, 'OK.'"

The light bulb suddenly went on in her head.

"Then I stopped and looked at them and they said, 'Yes, [Ben's sister],'" Coale said. "And I said, 'And?' And they said 'Yes, [she's not committed to a school].' And I said, 'OK, give me her contact information.'"

That's where it got dicey.

Coale returned to Norman and put assistant Chad Thrailkill on the job of scouting the Findlay sensation, not without a shock, though.

"I said, 'Here you go buddy, I need you to go check this kid out,'" Coale recounts. "He looked at the last name and just looked at me and I said, 'Yes.' You need to go see this kid and I have no idea, but her high school coaches were there, and they know what's going on, and you could tell they know what's going on, so she must be pretty good."

So, Thrailkill went on his way to scout Carlee, supposedly.

"A couple months later I got this phone call from Connie [Lyon, her head coach], and she said, 'Hey, you may be full up but I just wondered if you had any interest in Carlee.' And I'm like, 'Yeah, hasn't my assistant coach been in touch with you?' She said, 'No, we haven't heard anything.' [I said] 'Well, let me put you on hold.'

"So, I went down to his office and I said, 'TK, remember that business with that Roethlisberger name?' He turned white as a sheet. I said, 'Yeah, she plays her last game tomorrow. And we haven't seen her play yet, and she's still open.'"

On the spot, Thrailkill immediately headed for Findlay.

"Poor guy goes and gets on a flight, flies to Findlay, Ohio, and doesn't even take a coat, barely has socks on," Coale said. "[He] calls me from the game the next day and says, 'Please don't fire me.' I said, 'She must be good huh.' He said, 'Coach, it's only halftime, please don't fire me.'"

Needless to say, she didn't, and they picked up Big Ben's little sister off the recruiting trails.

The rest is history.

Carlee has never been a huge scorer, but she's hit big shots when necessary and stepped up as a huge glue player.

"You know, the legacy I hope that I've left is just, you know, how to be a great teammate and how to just give everything that you have on the floor," Carlee said. "It might not be scoring the most points. It might not [be to] get all the recognition, but to be able to do the little things that can help my team out, that's all I could hope for."

Precisely what she's done.

Carlee has, however, scored 649 points, recorded 412 rebounds and played 134 games in her career.

This season, she ranks second on the team in rebounds with 148, pulling down an average of 4.9 per contest, and second with 35 steals, next to Robinson's 75.

Carlee also averages 6.4 points per outing.

She has started all 30 games and 48 in the past two years after exclusively coming off the bench in her first two seasons.

And she's been an integral part of two consecutive Final Four appearances.

But not only has she had a major impact on the team's success; her experience throughout that success has had a major impact on her life.

"Oh, it's been huge," Carlee said. "Basically my college basketball career has been my life the last four years, and I've enjoyed every minute of it. It's been tough, but it's definitely made me grow. And I've gotten stronger both, you know, physically, mentally and, you know, with the team and even spiritually as well."

The thing she's most enjoyed during her career at OU:

"I really think it's the family atmosphere of everything," Carlee said. "You know, I've gotten teammates who have definitely become my second family along with all the fans. You know, you see them out and you get to know them and you become familiar with them and it's just like my teammates are my second family, and you look forward to coming back because you know those welcoming faces are going to be here."

The knowledge she's gained:

"The biggest thing that I've learned at OU, I guess, is probably that it's not what everybody else thinks that counts," Carlee said. "It's what you believe in as a team, as yourselves and as a program that you know that you can accomplish because, you know, when people believing in us, the media believing in us hasn't gotten us too far on the floor."

In light of that, she still lives by one major piece of big brother's advice.

"I think his biggest thing is just have no regrets," Carlee said. "I mean, every time you step out there on the floor, you gotta give it your all because you never know when the next time you step on the floor could be your last."

Just as he doesn't know when the last time he'll step between the chalk as the Steelers' signal caller.

Heck, not only does she still live by some of Big Ben's advice; she doesn't mind still living some in his shadow.

"Yeah, it's true, because I'm so proud of what my brother's done, all that he's accomplished and not just in sports but, you know, who he's become as a person and who I know him as, you know, my big brother," Carlee said. "So, I couldn't be more proud of him or more proud to be his sister."

And the Sooners couldn't be more proud to call her one of their own.