Bishop Noll freshman and daughter of former WNBA basketball player, Courtney Blakely, plans on taking Noll’s basketball team by storm this season.

Being around basketball her entire life, Blakely started playing the sport when she was just two-years old. She remembers always having a basketball around to pick up and play with.  She knew it was her passion and she loved the game a lot.

Her mother, Angela D. Blakely–formerly Angela Hamblin, played for the Washington Mystics in the WNBA, and was the primary driving force of basketball in Courtney’s life. Angela Blakely was drafted in 1998, but her career was cut short when she ruptured her Achilles heel. However, her love for the game continued and she saw that same passion in her daughter.

The 5’5’’ point guard plays in the off-season for Hamblin Hoops, a league organized by her dad. She had a career-high 40 point game and hopes to see a repeat in her rookie year as a Lady Warrior.

Blakely works very hard during the offseason. She plays traveling ball so her body and her skills are right for when the winter season comes around. She practices almost every day and still maintains good grades.  

Her mom motivates her all the time, and Courtney says that she is always there, even when she has a bad game.

“My mom is always there no matter what. She’s there to pick me up when I fall and is there for me when I do well,” Courtney says.

She has noticed that people do expect a lot from her because of her mother’s background, but she never lets that bother her.

“It is hard sometimes because people act different when I play, but I don’t pay too much attention to it,” she says.

Blakely is looking forward to her freshman season because she wants the feel of how high school basketball actually works. See Courtney in action and her mother as assistant when the Lady Warriors take on Highland at home for the first game of the season on Tuesday, Nov. 7, at 7 P.M.