Mansfield University coach Mike Whitling saw that same quality, among many others and on Tuesday, Hultberg signed on the dotted line to continue her academic and basketball career for the Mountaineers on scholarship.

“Everything they do is the same kind of thing we do here,” Hultberg said. “Practices, I got to sit and watch a practice, it’s the same kind of stuff. He’s a lot like Lisa. He cares about his players and he checks in with me all the time.”

Lisa is Lisa LaVan, Hultberg’s coach the last two seasons, who will now see a second player in three years sign on with a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference program (D.J. Hahn just completed a stellar sophomore season at Cal).

She sees a lot of similarities as well, and feels that her former starting point guard fits right in.

Warren point guard Autumn Hultberg (center) signs her National Letter of Intent to play collegiately at Mansfield University while flanked by her father, Mike (left), and sister, Alanna (right). Autumn said she could see herself at Mansfield after attending a camp there last summer and seeing how similar the style of play was to the Dragons.

“We went to Pitt-Bradford and saw them play and you could definitely see their style of play is similar to how we do things,” LaVan said. “A lot of dribble-drive, a lot of intensity, push the ball. Just watching them play, I understood right then and there why they wanted Autumn.

“I was still skeptical if that was going to be the right place for her. He (Mike) wants a point guard that sees the floor, that will push it and one who is unselfish and passes the ball. And, well, we all know that’s Autumn Hultberg. Mike is a fantastic guy. He knows where she’s from, a small town. He gets it.”

On the court, Hultberg helped lead the Lady Dragons to back-to-back playoff appearances.

Despite struggling through an injury this season, she was instrumental in pushing Warren to the brink of the state playoffs (they fell 63-62 to Hickory in the D-10 third place game).

Her basketball journey has been one that started at an early age, when she first fell in love with the game.

“I want to say fifth grade,” she said. “That was when I quit playing softball and started playing basketball year ’round. It’s so amazing. When I think back, I never pictured it going this way. This was not part of the plan coming to Warren, and now it’s just amazing. I can’t even describe it.”

She remembers the first summer she spent with coach LaVan, and how exciting a time that was in her journey as well.

“Academically and athletically, it was tough,” she said.

“Going from a class of 80 kids to about 200. With academics, they offer more here, so I could take more classes. That worked itself out. The summer of my junior year we went to team camp at Robert Morris and then West Virginia last summer. That was insanely awesome.”

It’s all part of the journey, her journey, one that her high school coach was proud to be able to share with her.

“Every player is different, every player has good and bad aspects to their game,” LaVan said. “I think the one thing that people don’t realize is that as much as she can play basketball, and she’s a great basketball player, she’s an even better person. I hope that’s what most people learn from her. That’s why I wanted her for four years. Not because of basketball, but because of the influence she has.”

She had her for two, and now it’s Mansfield that is getting a dynamic point guard capable of seeing the entire floor and pushing the tempo.

And she will take the the lessons she learned from LaVan with her.

“One thing Lisa really taught me, through my injuries and everything was how to be more of a leader,” Hultberg said. “Both in games and in practice.”

In the classroom, Hultberg will major in biology with an eye toward going to chiropractor school.

She’ll attack the classroom and the court with the same passion and intensity, and she’ll do it with a smile on her face.

That’s just who she is.