Nebraska Wesleyan鈥檚 Anna Vandenack thankful to be on the court
LINCOLN, Neb. (BVM) — Basketball has always been in Anna Vandenack鈥檚 blood. In fact, her family claims that she could hold a basketball ever since she could walk.
Despite an injury that set her back in training, she worked hard to become the competitive player she is today. Now as a sophomore playing for Nebraska Wesleyan, she looks forward to seeing where the sport takes her.
The Yutan, Nebraska native played many sports as a child but quickly found that basketball was her favorite. She played on club teams through her local YMCA all throughout elementary school and middle school, where she not only developed her love for basketball but also built some of her best relationships.
鈥淚t was just fun playing because my dad was my coach and I played with people that I have played with forever,鈥� Vandenack said. 鈥淭hat’s where I found my closest friends.鈥�
When she got to high school she started playing for Yutan High school as well as Nebraska Attack in the summer. While she had a good start to her prep career, she tore her ACL in the last game of the season.
鈥淭hat injury was really tough because it had to rehab all the way through summer before sophomore year and then sophomore season was rough because I was still working on getting it to full health,鈥� Vandenack said. 鈥淪ophomore and junior years were rebuilding years for me.鈥�
While she was focusing on getting back to health, she was also focused on starting the recruitment process. Vandenack has wanted to play collegiate basketball ever since she started playing, so she wasn鈥檛 going to let her injury set her back.
鈥淎t first I was scared my injury would really set me back, but I was still determined to play in college so I just focused on my training and getting better,鈥� Vandenack said. 鈥淚 wouldn’t go back and do it again, but I wouldn’t change it because I learned a lot from it and grew as a person. I became tougher.鈥�
Vandenack did not start looking at colleges until her junior year, and started talking to her now coach at Nebraska Wesleyan, Samuel Dixon, the summer before her junior year. She was immediately attracted to Wesleyan.
鈥淚 talked to a couple other schools but Wesleyan won out,鈥� Vandenack said. 鈥淚 really liked how it was a smaller school, and how I was able to get closer with professors. Wesleyan also has a good science program so that was good for my major.
Vandenack is majoring in biology with plans to attend veterinary school. She said this comes from growing up with animals around her and her long-time interest in science.
Despite her freshman collegiate season being shortened due to COVID-19, she still started seven of the nine games, leading the Prairie Wolves in scoring with 12.6 points per game on 35.4% shooting from the field. She also led Nebraska Wesleyan in free throw percentage at 82.7% and had 11 steals and three blocks in her debut season
Going into her sophomore season, Vandenack is just thankful to play and has enjoyed being with her teammates.
鈥淢y favorite thing about Wesleyan is my teammates because we are super close and have a lot of fun together but also push each other to get better,鈥� Vandenack said.
Looking back on what has gotten her to where she is today, she attributes her perseverance and success to all the coaches she has had in her career.
鈥淎ll my coaches have helped me become the player I am today,鈥� Vandenack said. 鈥� I am thankful for the time I’ve had with them. Dixon and the upperclassmen have been huge in helping me adjust to college basketball and I can鈥檛 wait to see what the future holds for the team.鈥�
