INLAND FIELDHOUSE

I scheduled to meet Samantha “Sam” Middleborn in the office of Cal State San Bernardino sports information director Mark Reinhiller.

Mark is one of the good guys. His hometown is in North Dakota, but he stretched his wings, became a renaissance man and grasped upon a sweet gig in the education sector. And he’s a gentleman about it.

Anyway, Mark provided me with a small conference room to conduct the interview. (He has connections.) The room he opened apparently doubles as the video room. There were TVs and tapes and wires everywhere. Someone should really clean that place up.

I opened the interview by telling her about my assignment for the Press-Enterprise. She looked happy to be doing an interview. It would be published next week, I told her.

Then a surprising thing happened.

She was genuine. She knew what she wanted to say and had incredibly insightful things to say about herself. That takes confidence, which she clearly has in spades.

The NCAA Division II Daktronics Volleyball Player of the Year  for 2010, Middleborn has set her goals beyond college. She ready for a life-altering adventure. She has her heart set on playing in Europe, saying “I definitely want to explore my options overseas.” And she’s doing it care-free, admitted to not really having a plan for after her volleyball career ends, outwardly hoping to “pick something up along the way.”

It was the kind of interview that leaves me inspired. Talent overflowing, Middleborn is the kind of athlete headed for stardom far, far from the Inland Area. Being able to tell her story at this juncture in her career, as she sits on the cusp of more great achievement, is like bottling a caterpillar.

You know you’re being allowed to view something great.