“I think I’m just a prime example of what could happen if you buy into this program,” senior forward Tara Wallack said.
That confidence and introspection did not always exist with Wallack, the WSU women’s basketball team’s only senior. As the only one in her class, the Canadian native had to step into a new and bigger role that presented many challenges in a new environment.
Wallack comes on the heels of a string of recent senior class successes under head coach Kamie Ethridge, including Ula Motuga and last year’s class of Charlisse Leger-Walker, Bella Makuerte, Beyonce Bea, Johanna Teder and Jessica Clarke. Many of those names are players Wallack is now trying to pass in Cougar record book.
Even with the many great players produced during the Ethridge era and the impressive level of talent from last year’s five-member senior class, none of them had to face the situation Wallack is facing: becoming a leader for herself and the team, on her own. Wallack said she felt uncomfortable, but learning from Ethridge and the seniors before her helped to ease the transition.
“Everyone just had such an impact on my career here, and it’s been a hard year without those seniors, but they also just helped me grow into the leader I am and who I need to be for this team,” Wallack said.
There was one player that stood out to Wallack though in terms of impact.
“If you have met Charlisse, she’s such a special person, and she just knows what everyone needs at certain points in their career,” Wallack said. “I really just had to sit back and learn from how she led the team and how she communicated with the team, because I was never really one to speak up or speak on the court, so she just really let me grow my confidence in that aspect. She’s just someone that’s always in my corner, who I just saw last weekend, and it’s just a forever-long friend I’ll have, and someone who I’ll look up to forever.”
Wallack grew up in South Surrey, Canada, with two older brothers and a family with a significant athletic background. Her mother and father were both athletes at the University of British Columbia, her brother Brian played basketball at UBC and Riley plays hockey in the British Columbia hockey league.
“We would always play one vs. one basketball or road hockey or whatever it might be,” Wallack said. “My brothers being bigger than me and stronger than me I would get frustrated and I would be like ‘let’s go again’ and ‘let’s play tomorrow.’ There would be a lot of verbal fights and physical fights, but I think that made me stronger to this day and to not be afraid of competition.”
Wallack would be a multi-sport athlete at Semiahmoo Secondary School, playing basketball, volleyball, soccer and track and field, thanks to those experiences and her family background. Basketball was the obvious success, as Wallack led Semiahmoo to back-to-back provincial championships.
Wallack’s collegiate career started off in a non-traditional manner, as she was recruited during the pandemic and committed to WSU without visiting the Pullman campus. Her freshman season came just a year after the NCAA tournament was canceled due to COVID-19 and programs across the NCAA struggled with adjusting to the pandemic environment.
Despite never visiting the campus before her first season as a Coug, the Pullman community quickly resonated with the now four-year veteran.
“The community has just been supportive of me ever since I stepped foot on campus,” Wallack said. “It’s just been super amazing having everyone on my side and on the team’s side and just feeling the support from them in the stands or at Zeppo’s, or wherever it may be—or in Walmart. It’s just an incredible feeling to have.”
As her young career tamped up, great adjustment would need to come on the floor as she came in as a “one-dimensional” player, as labeled by Ethridge.
Wallack struggled with confidence, the speed of the game and perimeter shooting early on in her career, something that was punctuated by a freshman year face off with the University of Washington, a moment that has stuck with her throughout her career.
“I don’t know if I slept that night after that game, so I every once in awhile [the team] will joke about it and I’m like don’t speak about it,'” Wallack said.
Wallack said the game was traumatic because no one had ever scouted her like UW did, which resulted in her being left unguarded on the perimeter and struggling to score. UW also recognized she could only drive one direction, limiting her post moves significantly.
“After that game I was like “okay, I don’t want to ever be treated like this ever again in a game and I need to change my ways,'” Wallack said. “Then sophomore year, my role on the team got way bigger, I became a starter. That’s just when I started to grow my confidence even more. Everything fell into place after that.”
Wallack would soon see major success and a bigger stage as WSU made back-to-back NCAA tournaments in 2022 and 2023 and won the Pac-12 championship for the first time in school history in 2023. While Wallack would record a double-double in the first round against FGCU in 2023, winning the Pac-12 title still resonates with her the most.
“Being a part of history and bringing that home to Pullman, and flying into Pullman having almost the entire town waiting for us at the airport, is something that I’ll never forget,” Wallack said. “Every time I talk about it, it’s like a fever dream and I still can’t believe it happens. We always have to watch the highlights to make sure it actually happened. But that whole week, that following month, was just such an amazing time and I’ll cherish that moment forever.”
In the midst of this success, Wallack was still developing and growing as both a player and an individual. Ethridge, who was with Wallack the whole way, emphasized one important thing along the way according to Wallack.
“She always emphasizes that effort will get you on the court,” Wallack said. “I don’t think I really realized that until probably sophomore year, because freshman year I was still trying to figure out everything. But I really started to realize that effort is what gets you playing time.”
Wallack said her senior season was the hardest to apply consistent effort to herself and the rest of the team.
“Even though some people didn’t want to practice some days, I kind of had to be the ‘bad news bear’ person and be like ‘no, you have to talk. I know English isn’t your first language, but you have to be uncomfortable,'” Wallack said. “I was definitely uncomfortable this season, but I think that also helped me grow as a person and a leader, but also the team grow in aspects that will help them next year when I’m not here.”
Heading into her senior season, Wallack spent much of the summer with the team, something Ethridge acknowledged earlier in the season as a pivotal point of development for Wallack’s leadership. This season, her improvement as a player and a leader have shined as she is averaging a career-high 13 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.8 blocks, while leading a freshmen-heavy team to a fifth consecutive postseason appearance.
Wallack has worked her way up the record books this season and is still climbing. Wallack is second all-time at WSU in career blocks and minutes played, and is also ninth in career rebounds. She is just 18 minutes away from matching the program record.
With her college career coming to a close, Wallack said she is grateful for the program but she will miss many things. One such thing is her teammate and best friend Astera Tuhina, a Kosovo native.
“I still don’t even know if I know where Kosovo is,” Wallack said with a laugh. “It’s just so funny how we became best friends. We live together, so it’s going to be really hard not seeing her every single day, every hour of the day.”
Wallack said she is also looking forward to traveling to see her former teammates, especially since many are from around the world and she will have free places to stay. Not waking up at 5 a.m. every day will be an added bonus.
The program cornerstone will turn her attention after the season to her pro career. She said basketball is her job and she plans to play overseas in the Euro League or Euro Cup and with the Canadian national team. Regardless of what happens in the WNIT tournament or her pro basketball career, there is still one main goal motivating Wallack.
“Winning is what I want to do and what I train to do everyday,” Wallack said.
