Emma O’Brien knows her debut for the Cornell University (Ithaca, N.Y.) women’s basketball team will be filled with emotion. Not only will the recent Lyons Township High School graduate be starting her NCAA Division I journey but that will mark her first competitive action since her season-ending left knee injury Jan. 9 at York.
“I’ll be excited and definitely nervous but health-wise hopefully fine,” O’Brien said. “Definitely that first game I’ll be nervous, but that would have been there regardless.”
The 6-foot-1 forward remains on track to recovery at roughly the six-month point after undergoing surgery for a torn anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus.
Going to physical therapy three times weekly, O’Brien said her shot “came back really easily.” She’s up to game pace with most basketball skills but still cannot have contact. The continued progress has her intending the play as a true freshman rather than redshirt.
“Hopefully I’m back around the mid-November, December area. That would be great,” O’Brien said. “There’s days I don’t want to do it but I would say it’s going pretty smooth in rehab. I’m looking at the big picture instead of just the little hurdles.”
A four-year varsity player, O’Brien finished third in LTHS girls basketball for career points (1,454), three-pointers (145) and steals (255) and second in assists (330). Even with her abbreviated senior season, she was named third-team Class 4A all-state by the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association and honorable mention all-state by the Associated Press.
A year ago playing summer basketball, O’Brien made contact with Cornell coach Emily Garner and made an unofficial visit in late August. O’Brien verbally committed a few weeks later and then made her official visit in September. O’Brien is enrolled in the business school and may possibly pursue a career in finance.
“Throughout my recruiting process, I wanted to go to a high academic school and obviously Cornell has that. It seemed like a good fit,” O’Brien said. “And I liked the campus. It’s really pretty. My first contact with Coach Garner, I really liked her. I liked how she handled things in the recruiting process. I really liked her demeanor and the girls on the team.”
Last season, Cornell finished 9-18 (4-10 in Ivy League) after going 7-20 in Garner’s first season. O’Brien is among five recruits and five Illinois players with the others from Loyola Academy (two), Lake Forest and Maine South high schools.
“There’s a good amount of girls from Chicago, which I liked,” O’Brien said. “Everybody (on my visit) was very including and happy and really seemed to support each other, which I liked.”
Sophia Towne
Senior Sophia Towne was coming off a dream season as the starting point guard for Nazareth Academy’s Class 4A girls basketball state championship, March 7.
Another great basketball moment came May 19. The 5-foot-10 Towne posted her verbal commitment to play for Northwestern University (Evanston).
“I feel like (Division I basketball) has always been the goal of mine and the Big Ten (Conference) has always been the dream of mine so I’m glad,” Towne said. “I wanted to commit somewhere somewhat earlier. I kind of wanted to go into my senior year knowing where I was going to I can play the high school season not stressed out. I wanted to commit before the AAU’s July period (with Wisconsin-based Team Prime Nation) so I could play more loose and stress free.”
The Wildcats finished 8-21 (2-16 in Big Ten) last season and Joe McKeown retired following 18 seasons as head coach. Carla Berube, who was named the new Northwestern head coach in March, coached Princeton the past seven seasons with five NCAA Tournament appearances and five Ivy League titles.
Towne is considering majoring in communications. In all, she took seven visits mostly unofficially, such as part of basketball camps.
“When I visited (Northwestern May 12), I just honestly fell in love with the school itself. It’s a beautiful campus and the staff was so welcoming. It felt like somewhere I could be the next four or five years,” said Towne, who was named second-team 4A all-state by the IBCA after leading the Roadrunners with 75 three-point field goals and 141 assists and finishing second with an 11.1-point scoring average.
One of Towne’s most memorable games was the 54-42 super-sectional victory over Waubonsie Valley after the game was tied 37-37 with 6:26 remaining. Towne contributed 17 points with three threes.
“It was a super-intense environment and game and we all had an intense amount of pressure on us. That made us stronger as a team and honestly work as a team and succeed to want more,” Towne said. “I felt like the whole state run prepared me for AAU season and confidence to play against good defenders and handle the ball with more confidence.”
