UVSC freshman making her mark on the court

OREM — Robyn Fairbanks is carving out quite a reputation for herself.

The freshman center for the Utah Valley State women's basketball team leads the resurgent Wolverines (6-10) with averages of 17.4 points and 8.8 rebounds per game.

At 6-foot-1, Fairbanks is making her living with a skill set distinct and unique for a player her size: she runs the court with aplomb and agility, uses her soft hands to gobble up the entry passes her teammates so often throw her way and is quite capable of stepping outside to nail a 3-pointer — she's shooting 43.5 percent from beyond the arc — when opponents collapse their defenses inside to try and stop her.

Last month in a loss to BYU, Fairbanks fought through foul trouble to literally run circles around a menagerie of statuesque Cougar inside players and score 19 points in only 23 minutes of playing time. Her performance elicited praise from BYU coach Jeff Judkins.

"I was very impressed with Fairbanks," Judkins said following the game. "I thought she really took it to our bigs. I thought we would have the advantage inside tonight, but she did a better job."

The Robyn Fairbanks story begins in small town Canada. She was raised in Raymond, population 2,500, in the province of Alberta.

"(Raymond) is a great little town; I love it," Fairbanks said. "It's just such a tight-knit community, I guess. There's just so much support from everywhere. I'm still really close to a lot of people there, talk to them all the time."

Her father, Lloyd Fairbanks, played offensive line for BYU before a career in the Canadian Football League. When his playing days ended, he moved his family west from Quebec to Raymond and started a business with his brother for repairing 18-wheelers.

Surprisingly, Fairbanks maintains that living in Happy Valley in many ways mirrors the pace of life in tiny Raymond.

"Actually, it's not that much different, because where I live it's like a little Mormon town too," Fairbanks said. "I know for other people on our team it's like a little bubble (here), but for me it's not too much different."

She ended up at UVSC because coach Cathy Nixon had the good sense and foresight to ink Fairbanks a letter of intent before her senior season began. It didn't hurt Utah Valley's chances that Fairbanks has two older sisters living nearby (Angie, 20, attends BYU; Cathy is 23 and finishing nursing school) and a set of grandparents stationed in Salt Lake City.