LONDON, December 6, 2018, 9:02 PM— As I walked up to the customs agent at Heathrow International Airport, he stared at my passport. “What are you doing here?” he asked me without as much as glancing up. 

Where to start?

“I’m living out my dream,” I replied with a smile.

“That’s great,” was his sarcastic reply.

Every development in my life led me to this point: I was living out my lifelong dream of playing professional basketball.

Here’s the story of how this orange ball took me on the ride of a lifetime with stops at Villanova University, three years playing abroad in Europe, a surreal experience at the 2021 NBA Summer League,  a brief stint in the Bronx, and my current role of Division 1 assistant coach. 

OCEAN CITY, May 31, 2021, 11:50 PM— I lie awake in my bed in New Jersey. While mindlessly scrolling through Instagram and fighting the heaviness of my eyelids, I came across an advertisement for something I had never heard of before. “Come to Las Vegas for NBA Summer League, Enroll in Sports Business Classroom,” it read. 

My eyes perked as I researched further. The deadline to apply for SBC was in 10 minutes. Luckily, Larry Coon was in California on Pacific time when I called the phone number listed. He agreed to give me a one-day extension on the application deadline, and I booked my flight upon being accepted the following day. 

I traveled to Las Vegas in July and witnessed my first-ever summer league at the Thomas and Mack Center. Having played at Villanova and then professionally in Europe for three years, I was like a kid in a candy store. 

I enrolled in the Scouting, Video and Analytics major and gained hands-on experience learning from current NBA scouts, coaches, and general managers.

The pinnacle of the experience was securing a player development interview with the Philadelphia 76ers, the team I grew up watching. Although I didn’t land a position, the experience opened doors for me. I accepted an on-the-court player-development role with the Fordham University Men’s Team. As the only female on the staff, I took what I learned from SBC to the Bronx to scout opposing teams, use analytically-driven decisions to formulate lineups and use film to deep dive into where the team could improve.

LAS VEGAS, July 13, 2021, 9:45 PM—As I Ubered to the airport following the conclusion of my first NBA Summer League, my canceled flight notification did not even ruin my spirits. I quickly dialed my mom and couldn’t wait to tell her that I had been awarded SBC MVP of my concentration, with a full scholarship to return the following summer.

OCEAN CITY, June 1, 2022, 5:00 PM—I started looking for flights to return to Las Vegas- I couldn’t wait to get back to SBC. 

And then I got a call from Tina Martin.

Coach Martin recruited me from high school to the University of Delaware, where she served as head coach of the Blue Hens for 21 seasons, with four NCAA tournament appearances, one of which featured WNBA MVP Elena Della Donne.

Martin informed me that she was taking over as interim head coach of the University of North Carolina Wilmington Women’s Basketball Team and that she had an opening for an assistant coach. 

Following the interview, I accepted the assistant coach position and moved to Wilmington in June. I have learned so much in my short stint as an assistant coach while mastering the manufacturing of scouting reports and in-game adjustments.

My heart, of course, sank when I realized I would not be able to return to SBC in Las Vegas due to the nature of my new position. Rest assured that I still keep in tremendous contact with many individuals from the program on various platforms. I am forever indebted to SBC and the opportunity it gave a young 24-year-old woman to accept a position at Fordham University, which ultimately jump-started my coaching career.