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Rachel Fradgley (’14) Commits To Simon Fraser
“It’s a relief! I feel a million pounds lighter,” said an obviously grateful Fradgley about joining the NCAA Division II, Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) School. “I’m glad I made this decision earlier in my senior year rather than later so that I can focus on school and the upcoming JUEL (rep) season.”
Even just a year ago, being able to commit to play university ball must have seemed to be light years away to Fradgley. That’s because during the AAU circuit in 2012, she tore her ACL while playing in Chicago.
What followed over the next 10 months included surgery and rehab, causing her to miss all of her Grade 11 high school season at St Thomas Aquinas, and subsequent rep seasons with her London Ramblers.
But after she was cleared to play earlier this May, Fradgley began the long road back beginning with a development program run this summer by her rep Coach, Dave Brown.
Her hard work paid off in more ways than one, including a Bronze Medal showing at OFSAA 3A, Ontario’s High School Championship.
Fradgley is a long competitive Post that is active on the boards. While she is still working hard to be able fully round out her game after the injury, she is able to get up and down the court quite nicely and even find success with her post moves. She has also found a lot of the timing that made her success before the injury, and will surely use her long reach to help the Simon Fraser Clan out on defense by being able to block shots.
Fradgley had also considered attending Western University (London, ON) and Wilfrid Laurier University (Waterloo, ON) before making her final decision.
So what was it about SFU that enticed her to commit to travelling more than 4,000 Kilometers away? The ability to forge her own path, a good education and a chance to play with a good group of girls in the NCAA.
“It’s a fairly small school, they have one of the best psychology programs in the country, and the girls on the team are all really welcoming! The best part about SFU is that I’m able to get a Canadian education and I’m getting the experience of playing in the NCAA. I feel very blessed to have the opportunity to join this unique program!”
“It’s a little nerve wracking because I’ve never been that far away from my family before but I’m also really excited because I’ll get to experience a ton of new things and also gain more independence.”
Just last month Fradgley won the Fran Wigston Award, given to the top graduating girls’ basketball player in TVRA (Thames Valley Region), and will be joining a fellow Londoner. Fradgley played with the Clan’s 2013 commit, Meg Wilson, back in the highly successful 2012 rep season with the Ramblers. So far this season, Wilson is currently averaging 5.1 points per game and 7.6 rebounds per game.