Former Youngstown State women's basketball player Heidi Schlegel will continue her basketball career as a professional for the top league in Germany.
Schlegel, who was a First-Team All-Horizon League selection in 2014 and 2015, will play for the Angels of the BG Donau-Ries Club of the Bundesliga. The Angels are located in Nördlingen, Germany, and had a 14-8 record last season.
"I am excited to join the Donau-Ries Angels and continue my basketball career," Schlegel said. "The coach's basketball and life philosophy is similar to mine, so I am looking forward to adding to the club and continuing to build the successes of the team. I am eager to learn the German language and culture and become a part of the Nördlingen community. I am very appreciative of all those who have supported and pushed me throughout the past 10 years and the Donau-Ries Angels for giving me the opportunity to continue my basketball career."
This marks the third straight year that a Penguin has signed to play professional basketball. Brandi Brown signed to play in Sweden in 2013, and she continued her career in Australia last year. Karen Flagg signed to play in the Netherlands in 2014.
Schlegel expressed interest early in the process in playing for a German team due to her family background and still having relatives in the country.
Kurt Wittman, sports director of BG Donau-Ries, said of Schlegel, "Personality and character are very important to us. Everyone we talked to emphasized that as good as Heidi is on the court, she is an even better person off the court. She is a very versatile player who can crash the boards in the post but is just as comfortable stepping out to shoot the 3 pointer. We look forward to having Heidi play for our club this season."
Schlegel ended her Penguins career as one of five players in program history to be named first-team all-conference twice. She set the career record for made free throws while also ranking fourth in points (1,729), fifth in minutes (3,436) and seventh in rebounds (796). Most of those totals came in the last two seasons when John Barnes became YSU's head coach. Her 1,205 combined points in 2013-14 and 2014-15 were the third-most in program history over a two-year span.
"I'm very excited for Heidi," Barnes said. "She has worked extremely hard to take her game to the next level. The fact that a top team in Germany has signed her speaks volumes about who she is on and off the court. I have no doubt she will excel for BG Donau-Ries and help them reach new heights."
http://www.horizonleague.org/blog/ysus-schlegel-to-basketball-continue-career-in-germany-
