THUNDER BAY – America’s loss is Jon Kreiner’s gain.
The Lakehead Thunderwolves women’s basketball coach on Wednesday announced the OUA team has landed Leashja Grant, a 6-foot-2 forward who spent the 2015-16 season as a starter for the Texas Tech Red Raiders, but could not return in September 2016 when visa problems kept her from returning to the United States.
Grant, a Bahamian native, averaged 7.7 points and 6.8 rebounds in her lone season at Texas Tech, a slight drop from her junior college season at Trinity Valley, when she averaged 12.1 points and 12.9 rebounds a game.
“Wow,” Kreiner said when asked about the impact Grant should have on a team that two years ago went to the OUA Final Four on the back of another NCAA star recruit, Jylisa Williams, who captured CIS player of the year honours in her second and final season with the Thunderwolves.
“She’s a legit NCAA Division I post. She’s undersized by NCAA Division I standards, but oversized with respect to her rebounding ability. She’s a beast inside and the type of player that we’ve been looking for to complement our shooters and the talent we already have.”
According to a 2016 report on the Red Raiders website, Grant’s troubles arose when she went home to the Bahamas to renew her FI Visa that would allow her to study in the U.S. as a foreign national. She was denied the visa on four separate occasions. School officials weren’t sure why Grant, who scored 26 points and added 15 rebounds in her Texas Tech debut, was turned down.
Kreiner said the comparisons to Williams, a high-scoring guard, are inevitable.
But they’re different players with different roles.
“It’s going to be hard to ever compare anyone to Jylisa. But Leashja will be her own self, her own player. Her strengths are going to be controlling the paint at both ends of the floor. She’s a big-time rebounder and kind of gives our shooters a little bit more leeway to let loose a little bit,” Kreiner said.
“Also we’ll look at getting the ball inside and playing that inside game.”
Kreiner said he was tipped off by former Lakehead player Mike Connolly, who now coaches at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology in Northern Alberta and his assistant coach Donnie Moss, who was also from the Bahamas and knew of Grant’s predicament.
The 23-year-old Grant, who went to school with budding Sacramento Kings star Buddy Hield, had dreams of being drafted into the WNBA out of college, but unable to continue her university career south of the border, said she thought Lakehead was a really good fit. “Canada, on the whole, was an amazing experience. I really enjoyed the environment and people I met in Thunder Bay and in the Thunderdome,” she said in a release issued by the school’s athletic department.
“The coaching staff and teammates all showed me what Lakehead was about, nothing but greatness and the chance to accomplish goals. I hope to accomplish a lot both on and off the court and I have confidence that will happen at Lakehead U. I am looking forward to a great first year at Lakehead with a fresh start.”
Grant will have two seasons of eligibility remaining in Canada.
