Law Schools

Mizzou First-Year Law Student Is Also A D1 Basketball Player

As you can imagine, her schedule is pretty insane.

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The lives of first-year law students are often incredibly complicated and excruciatingly stressful. Lauren Aldridge, a 1L at the University of Missouri School of Law, knows this all too well, because she’s been “practicing on the court and for court.” In addition to her legal studies, Aldridge is also the starting point guard for the Missouri women’s basketball team.

As you can imagine, thanks to her dueling commitments, Aldridge’s schedule is insane. Brian Hochman of the St. Louis Post Dispatch describes her routine:

It’s fitting that Aldridge plays point guard, a position that demands time management and awareness. She lives an entire day seemingly with a shot clock ticking, every second precious. …

Aldridge wakes up at 6 a.m., eats breakfast and starts studying. She’ll have class, sneak in some reading, have class, sneak in a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, have class, “and then sprint to the parking garage and get to practice by 3:30.”

After practice, she’ll devour dinner and study until around midnight.

Aldridge, who currently leads the team in assists and has tallied up the second-most minutes, has a huge following at home games thanks to her 1L classmates. Once they’re in the stands, they’ll frequently hold up signs only law students could enjoy, such as “No. 5 is 1L of a player” or “No. 5 is layin’ down the law!” Our favorite sign of all? “Tres ipsa loquitur” — the 3-pointers speak for themselves.

You may be wondering how Aldridge, who completed her undergraduate degree in just three years, plays basketball for a college team as a graduate student. She played for two years at Kansas before transferring to Missouri, and last year, she had to sit out because of NCAA transfer rules. With only two years logged on the court, she’s considered a junior for Missouri, so she’ll be able to play ball for two seasons. During her 3L year, she’ll have to focus only on law school.

After she graduates from law school, Aldridge hopes she’ll find a job as an athletics director at a Division I school or as a conference commissioner. She knows that it’s “a complete long shot” if only because there are so few of those positions that are open, but if anyone can do it, Aldridge probably can. She’s an inspiring young woman who hopes to be a role model for others, especially her younger sisters. In fact, thanks to Aldridge, one of her little sisters already has dreams of becoming a lawyer.

Congratulations to Lauren Aldridge on everything that she’s accomplished thus far in her athletic and legal pursuits. We wish you nothing but net on your finals this spring.

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Hochman: Juggling basketball, law school is quite a feat [St. Louis Post Dispatch]

Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky has been an editor at Above the Law since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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