Women’s basketball coach Jon Kreiner announced a late addition to his 2015-16 recruiting class today: 5’5″ point guard Rachel Webber, of Ancaster, Ontario.

Kreiner has had Webber on his radar for some time, his Jr. Wolves playing against her Blessed Sacrament team twice at the 2013 OBA Championship tournament.

“At that time I knew Rachel was a dynamic game changer that we wanted in our program,” says Kreiner. “Rachel was relentless, aggressive and had a strong will to push her teammates to be better.”

Webber is enrolled in Lakehead’s Concurrent Education program and will major in geography.

The Junior Elite League (JUEL), Canada’s premier youth women’s basketball association, is home to Webber’s Blessed Sacrament team, which she captained this season and helped to a bronze medal, a stark improvement over the team’s 12th place finish the season prior.

Rachel co-captained her Ancaster High School team and led them to a city championship, and a consolation championship at OFSAA. Rachel won the sportsmanship award at OFSAA and is an elite dual sport athlete in basketball and soccer.

“I am very excited to come to Lakehead this coming fall,” says Webber. “It’s a great school for me academically and athletically. I can’t wait to be apart of the Thunderwolves team and show everyone what we’re made of.”

Rachel loves to coach and has spent the last two years coaching with her mentor and friend Jim Thornton. Together they coached the Blessed Sacrament grade 10 girls team and the grade 9 boys Hamilton Wildcats team.

Thornton expounds Webber’s basketball acumen: “Rachel Webber is one of the most generous young people I have met. She spends countless hours donating her time coaching and helping youth in and around the Hamilton area.  She’s coached 4 different teams and led her high school team to a City Championship, which hasn’t happened for that high school for many years. In addition, her defensive abilities and intensity have catapulted her to the top of the JUEL League in steals.  She has been a difference maker on every team that she has played for and is a really great person.”

Coach Jon Kreiner summarizes his recruiting class:

“With the addition of Rachel Webber we have solidified our backcourt. Rachel is tough and smart and will go through a wall for you. Amanda Miller has experience and is long and will cause match up issues. She can fill many roles with our team. Maggie also has experience playing in a National Championship game at the CCAA level. She can shoot from deep and is a very tough nosed defender. We feel we have retooled in the positions we needed and can hold our own in a very tough OUA division.”

Rachel Webber’s JUEL Statistics

PPG – 10.9 (13th in JUEL)
2FG% – 46% (5th in JUEL)
Assists – 3.5 (5th in JUEL)
Rebounds – 8.0 (5th in JUEL)
Steals – 4.7 (1st in JUEL)