Fresno State Athletics
Remembering Grandma Ellen
11/25/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 25, 2008
Photo Gallery with Grandma Ellen
FRESNO, Calif.-Fresno State women's basketball coach Adrian Wiggins teaches his team that life is more than basketball and that it is the people you meet and the things you do along the way while you are playing that makes everything so special.
Nothing was more special than the relationship Wiggins and his team had with 86-year old Ellen Kilday, who recently passed away. Kilday had been an avid supporter of Fresno State athletics, but she found herself devoting specific attention to the Fresno State women's basketball team.
Overtime the relationship between Kilday, a former basketball player back in Oklahoma in the late 1930's, and the women's team grew stronger and a relationship began that carried over away from the basketball floor. Kilday lived in Chowchilla, Calif., for 60 years but when her health started to decline she moved to Clovis to be closer to two of her daughters.
Prior to last year Kilday had attended Bulldog basketball games for the three previous years. But it wasn't until the 2007-08 season when the relationship blossomed. The relationship with the women's basketball team is what family members say kept Kilday going.
"We found what kept her going was the next basketball game," Ellen's daughter Kathy said. "Over the last two years the only place she went was to the Doctors office and the basketball games. One time she said she didn't think she felt well enough to go to the game but once she got there she was always fine."
Last year the team had an autograph signing party after a 10-point home win over Boise State. Following the game, Kilday came down and got autographs from the players. One of the players asked if the team scared her when Boise made a rally to get back into the game.
"She said `I tell you what you all almost gave me a heart attack,'" Bulldog senior guard LaToya Brown said. `"You missed so many layups out there. The game wouldn't have been close but you almost gave me a heart attack. I thought I would have had to stop the game.'"
It is experiences like this that helped the bond between Kilday and the women's team grow stronger. After every home game the players always celebrated with the fans. During this time each player always made their way up to Kilday to give her a hug. Also during the starting the starting lineup when the team threw out plastic balls to the crowd, one player, usually Brown always ran a ball up to her.
When the team was on a road trip at Hawai'i last year, the players made sure to call Kilday on her birthday.
For the Bulldogs final home game against New Mexico State, Kilday came down to the locker room and talked to the team following the win.
"Inviting her into the locker room was exciting," Kathy said. "She really thought that was special."
That moment was special for the players, too.
"She was part of the team," Brown said. "She literally had tears in her eyes because she had never been down to the locker room before. She gave us a fun speech about basketball."
One moment the players will never forgot is the effort she and her family made to meet the team at the airport after the Bulldogs won the WAC Tournament championship.
"We were making signs to hold up when they arrived but we found out we were at the wrong place," Ellen's daughter Kathy said. "We drove up as the plane arrived and came up to the group of people just as the players were getting off the plane. As the players headed to the crowd, Jaleesa came straight over to us with the trophy. The other girls then came over and we were able to take some fun pictures."
When Kilday's health continued to decline during the off season the players continued to visit Grandma Ellen.
The weekend before she passed away the entire team went over to visit Grandma Ellen. Her daughter and grandson Blair told the players she was on medication and really weak.
"When we saw her she got so much energy," Brown said. "It was heart-taking for us. Her daughter called us the next day to say thanks and said, `Grandma Ellen was on the phone with one her sisters and said, `All my girls' came over here and I forgot I was sick.'"
A day before Kilday passed away, Brown visited her adopted grandmother and one of the last things she told Brown was, "I don't understand why New Mexico State thinks the Bulldogs cheated. I saw that shot and it was good."
Although Grandma Ellen won't be in the stands cheering on the Bulldogs anymore, she left a lasting impression in the hearts of all the players.
"She was a grandmother figure to me," Brown said. "We are going to miss her so much. It is hard from getting to know somebody and for them not to be there anymore. We are really going to miss seeing her in the stands. I guess you could call her our team angel. We are going to try our best to win the WAC championship in honor of her."
"Join the State - Fresno State!" - The `Dogs travel to Dallas, TX to participate in the SMU Tournament November 28-29. The `Dogs will play Charlotte on Friday, November 28 at 3:00 pm and will face either SMU or Sam Houston State on Saturday, November 29. The `Dogs return to the Save Mart Center on Thursday, December 4 in the 2008 Papé Slam as they host TCU in the Save Mart Center at 7:00 pm. It's Thursday Night at the Save Mart Center an all Fresno State and Fresno Unified School District faculty and staff can receive $2 tickets with presentation of their ID (limit 4 tickets) at the Save Mart Center box office. Tickets are on sale now through the Save Mart Center box office, by calling (559) 485-TIXS or online at ticketmaster.com.
