Abbotsford’s Karishma Rai has signed with the Thompson Rivers University women’s basketball program.
The Kamloops-based school made the announcement in a press release on Wednesday morning.
Rai, a 5-9 shooting guard from Yale Secondary, had a breakout performance at the 2018 Abbotsford Police City Basketball Tournament by scoring 19 points to lead the Yale Lions to a 79-48 win over the Bateman Timberwolves in the final. She was named the game’s most valuable player for her efforts.
RELATED: VIDEO: Abbotsford Police City Basketball Tournament
More recently she helped lead the Lions to a third place finish at the 2020 BC Senior Girls 4A Provincial Championships. Rai was named a first team all-star at the tournament back in March.
According to WolfPack head coach Goran Nogic, she will be a good fit in the program due to her basketball IQ and shooting skills.
“Our coaching staff expects that Karishma will raise our level in practice and bring more competitiveness to our team,” he stated. “She has been brought up in a basketball family, which helps her understand the game much deeper than usual for someone her age. Karishma is a very dedicated and responsible young lady, with big academic and basketball potential.
She has outstanding shooting abilities, which will be a great starting point to begin developing her game in other areas as well. We are sure she will easily adapt to our system and integrate into our team’s work habits.”
The Grade 12 student said she’s looking forward to joining TRU in the fall.
“I chose TRU because overall it is a great school with a friendly community,” she stated. “The basketball environment provides such unique and significant members. My expectation academically is to complete my bachelor’s degree and then enter into the law program at TRU. As for basketball, I want develop my knowledge and skills in the future and become a well-rounded player and shooter. My role is to take on responsibilities, being accountable and filling in the leadership role.”
miss playing right about now... pic.twitter.com/IpsiEwQ4W7
— Karishma Rai (@karishma_SG2021) May 8, 2020
TRU finished the 2019-20 Canada West regular season at 7-13 and placed 12th in the conference. The club was eliminated by the UFV Cascades after a 76-54 loss in Abbotsford in the CW play-in game on Feb. 14.
RELATED: VIDEO: UFV Cascades basketball teams post playoff wins
