Recap The Court

Jacob Smith

Noor Bazzi is in the midst of her fifth season of eligibility and second with the Brock Badgers women’s basketball program. After a winding journey to find the environment she fit best in, she is now helping lead the Badgers towards another playoff run and possible third nationals appearance in four years should they make it.

Noor started playing basketball at a young age, the same way many have, playing with siblings on a hoop on the street. Until grade 11, street ball was what she did outside of playing for the school team, and leading up to grade 11, her talents were recognized and she ended up playing JUEL for the final two years of her secondary education.

Throughout grade 12, Noor was contemplating doing a fifth year of high school, “I was contemplating taking a fifth year because I wanted to play college ball but I wasn’t there yet. I eventually got in contact with the head coach of St. Clair and a couple weeks before school started I committed to play with St. Clair.”

Though she expressed interest in other OCAA schools, a combination of mutual interest and the ability to stay at home in Windsor made St. Clair College the decision Noor made, and kicked off two years of experiencing a new level of basketball that she now looks back on as a big cause of personal growth.

“It was really fun playing at St. Clair for two years. It was hard at first transitioning from high school to college because it’s two different styles of play, but the atmosphere of the community made things so much better,” Noor said of her time at the OCAA level.

Noor averaged 10 points per game in her rookie year in the OCAA, playing 16 games and starting 9, during a 15-9 season that ended with a 73-56 win over Mount Saint Vincent at the CCAA Championship consolation final after taking silver in the OCAA championship.

In Noor’s second year, she improved her numbers to 12 points per game and 6.8 rebounds compared to 4.7 her first year, taking a step forward and helping St. Clair go 14-4 and capture another OCAA silver medal after a loss to Fanshawe in the gold medal game.

“I was at St. Clair for three years, played two because of COVID, took 2 programs, a one year followed by a two year,” Noor spoke of her time at St. Clair and her decision that followed afterwards. ”From there I didn’t know what I wanted to do. At that point I didn’t want to play basketball anymore, I wanted to move on to school and focus on that. I transferred my credits and wanted to take teachers college.”

Photo: CKSN.ca

Noor’s choice of Teachers College kept her at home in Windsor, and made her the newest Lancer, going to school at the University of Windsor. Not far removed from her athletic career, Noor wanted to make sure that she could stay active even when focusing primarily on school, so she got in contact with Windsor women’s basketball head coach Chantal Vallee, “I got in contact with (Chantal Vallee) and said I want to stay active, is there any way I can just be a practice player.”

What started with just staying active and being a practice player, started to lean towards a hunger to get back into the game and take the court once again as a member of the Lancers, “training with them I fell back in love with the game and I got in contact with Chantal and said if there’s any way I can become a rostered player. She said of course based on how I was playing and that’s how I joined the team.”

For the 2021-2022 season, Noor Bazzi was now a rostered player on the Windsor Lancers women’s basketball team. Windsor went 6-10 in a shortened season, losing 77-67 to the Guelph Gryphons in the first round of the OUA playoffs.

During a tumultuous season, Noor struggled to find cohesion and a positive routine, and the year turned into a learning and growing experience that she would take with her to her next destination. ”The year didn’t go as well as I wanted it to. I got myself into something that I didn’t expect, a very negative experience. It was not what I wanted to put myself through while playing the sport that I love,” Noor said of her one year on the Lancers, “Coming out of it I can definitely say that I am who I am because of it.”

Following Windsor’s loss to Guelph in the OUA playoffs, Noor decided to take a trip down to see her friend Ivana Twumasi at Brock and watch the Badgers play Western in the OUA semifinals. A conversation between Ivana and Noor which included Noor mentioning she was done playing and she had left the team at Windsor, led to a conversation between Ivana, Noor and Brock head coach Mike Rao. Coach Rao and Noor talked over email following the season and minutes after Noor reaching out, Rao called her and they talked about scheduling a visit.

“Me and my dad went for a visit and we loved it, my dad is a big fan of Rao,” Noor said about her visit. The conversation with Ivana and Rao after the game would end up sparking what Noor called a random decision to commit to the Brock Badgers for her last two years of varsity basketball, and the Badgers now had themselves a shooter who can defend all areas of the floor, a big need for the Badgers looking to get to their third straight Critelli Cup in the 2022-2023 season.

Going into the 2022 season, the Badgers lost key starters in Mackenzie Robinson, Jenneke Pilling and they had lost Sam Keltos near the end of the 2021 season. A new core was building and that meant a large addition of new players, including Noor who entered later than others with Angeline Campbell, Oluwatito Akinnusi and others. ”Building chemistry was tough at first because it starts in the summer and we came late, but as the weeks and months went on we got closer,” Noor mentioned about the growth the team had throughout the 2022-2023 season. 

Brock went 12-10 in conference play during the season, building chemistry throughout the year and playing for each other, “we went into the Windsor game together and played team ball, getting that win was huge for us.” Brock beat Windsor 61-58 with Noor contributing 12 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. Their win over Windsor put them in Kingston against the U SPORTS bronze medalists, the Queen’s Gaels, and something they were definitely not short of is confidence. 

“We were very confident in our ability considering we beat Carleton,” Noor said of the teams mindset going into Kingston. Earlier in the year, Brock defeated the Carleton Ravens 73-65 on home court, ending the Ravens streak and getting the Badgers a much needed win having lost three straight prior. Beating one of the top teams in the country gave the Badgers a boost, and they took Queen’s to the final buzzer.

“We had that confidence in us that we can ride with the big dogs. Losing was obviously heartbreaking but it wasn’t a bad loss.” Brock lost 71-66 to the 21-1 Queen’s Gaels with Madalyn Weinert scoring 20 to lead the team and veteran Theresa Brown scoring 12. After a proud loss that ended the Badgers season, the look was now to the future and Noor’s final season with another group of new faces.

“The biggest expectation that we’ve had as a team is our fitness. We wanted to be the team that can run up and down, also playing together. Coming into this year we really emphasized playing together, holding each other accountable and knowing you can trust the other players on the floor. The fact that all five starters had over 10 points versus Queen’s showed that we can trust each other and we can all score,” Noor said of the Badgers 5-4 start to the season.

Through a first semester of ups and downs, the Badgers have grown game by game, being one of the teams others consider a dark horse for a run in the OUA this season. An overtime loss to the Ravens who were undefeated at the time, a win over the previously undefeated Gaels, and a win over Waterloo show the potential of this team, and it starts with buying in, “buying into what Rao is saying is really important, it may not make sense now but later it will matter and show. The expectations that he has in us will show. When times get tough our true character shows,” Noor said of the teams buy-in to the plan that head coach Mike Rao has for the team.

Brock sits second in the OUA Central at 5-4 with a perfect 4-0 record at home, and the theme of this years team, as it’s been the past two seasons, is growth and getting gradually better as the year goes on. From their loss at TMU forward, Noor and her squad have improved in all aspects, and the story of Noor’s varsity basketball journey is writing itself an ending as she will move into the next chapter with the passion and devotion that has pushed her through the OCAA and now OUA.