After traveling 9,200 miles from Australia to play junior college basketball, Abbey Cracknell accomplished what she always wanted to: playing college basketball in the United States.
Practicing basketball for the majority of her life had been leading to joining the Marquette women’s basketball team.
“My entire family had played so I was sort of just put into it. As soon as I was born, I can remember watching my dad play games and going to all my brothers’ games when I was a little baby,” Cracknell said. “My older brothers and I would always practice together, they would challenge me and they would teach me new drills. Just having that was really cool.”
College basketball in Australia isn’t nearly as popular as it is in the United States, so at first, Cracknell was hesitant to pursue the sport after high school. But the opportunity kept calling her name.
Gulf Coast State College head coach Rory Kuhn had just come from assistant coaching at St. John’s. He joined the Commodores right before the school year started and only had two girls on the team. He reached out to a recruiting connection he had in Australia and they had someone that was willing to come over.
Cracknell was wary at first because of the distance, but the one thing Kuhn could promise her if she came was playing time.
One of the biggest reasons that Cracknell said she accepted the offer was because of how cool of an opportunity it would be to play in the United States. She saw how big college basketball was in the U.S. and it was always something she wanted to do.
When Cracknell started playing for the Commodores, she needed to adjust to her new life, on and off the court. Which she did. Kuhn noticed her immediately for the effort she put in, especially when no one was watching, working alone in the gym at 8 a.m.
“She really wanted to be good,” Kuhn said. “As good as she was and in the coaching system she was in here, a lot of that just built in with who she is and the inner drive that she has to want to be successful. She works nonstop and she was like the glue that held our team together.”
She had never been away from home for weeks let alone months at a time, so she said that aspect was difficult for her.
But with the bad comes the good.
Cracknell said she thrived in the winning culture of Gulf Coast State College. In her two seasons with the team, she started in 57 of the 59 games, scored 556 points, grabbed 280 boards, assisted on 104 baskets and got 84 steals.
“Proud,” Cracknell said about how it makes her feel. “I don’t think people really realize what a big challenge it is being away from home. So just being able to hear those numbers… it makes me feel better that I did the right thing to come over here and that I don’t regret it whatsoever.
“You just gotta realize that with the work you’re doing, your family was gonna be proud of you.”
Although Cracknell was an essential part of his team’s success, Kuhn said he knew she deserved a shot at playing for a Division I program.
Marquette head coach Megan Duffy got a call from Kuhn and after watching some film, she immediately knew the junior forward would be a good fit for the Golden Eagles.
“There was definitely a little bit of nerves from her side, but she’s super chill, super easy to get along with. She’s so positive,” Duffy said. “We all have a lot of respect for what she’s doing coming from across the world from Australia to play college.”
As Cracknell’s first Division I basketball season approaches and she’s halfway across the world from home, she said she finds comfort in the sport she grew up on.
“When I’m having a bad day, I just get a few shots up and it brings me a bit of ease to my mind,” Cracknell said. “I guess it is a bit of an escape, even though this journey is hard. Sometimes you want to escape from it itself when practices are hard, but it’s just something that I’ve always done. It sort of calms me.”
This story was written by Benjamin Hanson. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter/X @benhansonMU.
