The Bradley women’s basketball team has accumulated a strong Iowan presence on its roster for this season.
The on-court impact of players from Illinois’ western neighbor has been constant the past few years, with veterans Chloe Rice and Tatum Koenig approaching the end of their senior season. The connection will last into the foreseeable future, with first-year players Caroline Waite, Sasha Koenig and Abbie Draper making instant impacts on an injury-riddled team in need of depth.
It doesn’t end there. Reagan Barkema, an incoming guard from Roland-Story High School of Story City, Iowa, is set to become the next Brave from the Hawkeye State.
“[Her hometown] helped a lot in recruiting her,” Rice said. “Just to have more people on the team that are from Iowa, she’s able to relate more to us here.”
Head coach Andrea Gorski views incoming recruits from Iowa as a good fit for Bradley’s program.
“It’s somewhat close to Peoria, so you have a good opportunity to get kids who want to stay within four or five hours of home, in addition to the value of education that Bradley can give them,” Gorski said. “The Valley is a shooting conference and Iowa’s known for their shooters and fundamental kids. It’s about finding the right types of players for our style of play.”
The shooting ability has shown itself in flashes this season, as Waite (46 three-pointers) and the elder Koenig (28) shoot above a 32 percent clip from beyond the arc.
So how frequently are the five out-of-state athletes actually on the court? Currently, the Iowans constitute the majority of the team’s playing time. Tatum Koenig (32.7 minutes per game), Waite (31.2 MPG), Draper (21.1 MPG) and Rice (20.6 MPG) are entrenched in the starting five, with Sasha Koenig (7.9 MPG) holding a valuable bench role.
“I was recruited a little bit by Iowa schools but not a ton, so I just focused on going where I was wanted, and I felt like that was Bradley,” Rice said.
Draper, meanwhile, also stated that she received some interest from small schools in her home state, but chose to become a Brave for reasons similar to Rice’s.
The student-athletes had their various reasons for choosing Peoria, Illinois, as their next destination, but it’s fair to say the heavy recruiting has paid off.
“We’re definitely heavy in Iowa; we spend a lot of time recruiting those AAU teams and the high schools there,” Gorski said. “Every kid we’ve gotten they’ve worked their tail off; they’re very coachable. Iowa has been very good to us.”
