It has been a whirlwind couple of months for Lucy Coogan.
After just returning from Bulgaria where she was one of the top players in the Under 18 European championship, the Irish international continutes her journey, this time stateside where she begins a scholarship in New Jersey.
☘️ Another hard-fought victory for the U18W at #FIBAU18Europe in Bulgaria.
— Basketball Ireland (@BballIrl) August 6, 2022
IRL 🇮🇪 68-58 🇮🇸 ISL
Playing for ninth place tomorrow. 😎#TeamIreland | #GreenMeansGo pic.twitter.com/MxrZpJKtcE
We caught up with Lucy on Scoreline just after she arrived back in Ireland, where she had barely any time to comprehend the journey so far;
“I’m going to college at Cornell University in New Jersey, I got a basketball scholarship.”
“I am just back from Bulgaria, so I have not got to think too much about it, but I am excited.”
Today marks the day Lucy leaves the Emerald Isle for the land of opportunity. It is a feat not often accomplished by Irish athletes, let alone in the discipline of basketball. Speaking with one of her coaches, Puff Summers, last April, he said he always knew Lucy would be destined for greatness;
“It’s something she’s been dreaming of since she was 11 years old when I started working her up, so this was always a goal we kind of had. I didn’t see anything other than her getting to this point.”
“When I step back and really look at it and say ‘wow, this Kilkenny girl is now going to a four-year university in America’, it’s quite a feat alright.”
You can hear the full interview back from the 30-minute mark in the latest Full Time podcast.
