Jefferson Hagen, MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Taking a cruel spate of injury fate in stride by focusing on the positive moments of her university basketball career, Brielle Wise has come to grips with the fact she will be on the bench in street clothes for the final home game of her MacEwan Griffins career this weekend.
It's not how Senior Night is supposed to go, but nothing has gone according to script for one of the best pure three-point shooters the program has ever had. Injuries have held her to just three quarters of one game in the past three seasons.
"I will be dealing with so many emotions leading up to it," said Wise, who will be feted as MacEwan's lone graduating senior on Saturday following a weekend series vs. Lethbridge (Friday, 6 p.m. and Saturday, 5 p.m., both David Atkinson Gym, Canada West TV presented by Co-op). "That I'm spending it on the bench is going to be a unique experience because that's not typically how it goes, but I'm excited to be able to share it with my teammates.
"I don't know what I'll feel in the moment. It's bittersweet, but I'll find it a bit sadder because of the way my career has ended and will be ending. But I'm just trying to look at the positives and take away what I've gained from being here for five years."
It's been a roller-coaster ride, for sure – one that started in 2015, when she was a part of a thrilling playoff run to the Canada West Final Four.
But after suiting up for 32 regular season games over her first two seasons, Wise felt her knee pop in the opening game of the 2017-18 campaign at Thompson Rivers University. It was a major knee injury that required surgery in December of that year.
Just as the injury rehabilitation process was rolling along, the following July she and her boyfriend were involved in a head-on collision at highway speed in Revelstoke, B.C.
"We were really lucky to walk away from it," said Wise, reflecting on the scary crash which left her with a multiple injuries, including a separated shoulder, broken hand and whiplash.
"That also delayed my knee recovery by three months," she added. "I got back on court at the end of October and started doing workouts and I was cleared by my surgeon in December. Ten days later, we had our first practice back and I tore it again."
She's now 11 months into recovering from the latest setback, which obviously hasn't allowed her to play at all during her final season in a Griffins uniform.
"It's been a lot and I don't think I'd be able to get through any of it if I didn't have the support system that I do have at home and at MacEwan," said the St. Albert product. "There were lots of times I didn't think I'd be able to get through the pain I was experiencing at that time, especially with the second surgery and injury. I've never felt the extent of that extreme pain ever before, so I really had to rely on a lot of people in my life to get me through it and give me extra strength. I didn't think I had any.
"You never realize how much you can deal with and go through until you look back and go 'wow, I got through that.' "
Brielle Wise drives around a UBC-Okanagan player during the 2016-17 season (Robert Antoniuk photo).
Her recovery has certainly been a source of inspiration for her teammates. Although she hasn't been able to play, Wise has become a veteran leader off the court.
"I think it took her some time," said head coach Katherine Adams. "Obviously, the personal adversity she faced with injury and her accident and everything that came with that, there's some struggle to find certainty in the path where you're going.
"Her ability to still be a part of the team to contribute what she has has been incredible. She really has, especially in the last couple of years, found a way to be a leader and helped influence a young team in a really positive way."
Most of her current teammates have never seen her play, never seen the clutch three-point shooter in action. In 36 career Canada West regular season and playoff games – mostly in her first two seasons still adjusting to the level – Wise knocked down 25-of-64 attempts from beyond the arc for a career three-point percentage of 39.1 per cent.
What the Griffins wouldn't do for that kind of production as they haven't had a consistent outside presence since she was a regular in the lineup in 2017 with fellow sharp-shooters Kendall Lydon and Juhee Thompson.
"It's actually interesting because a lot of our younger players have never seen her play," said Adams. "When she was coming back after her first knee rehab, we were doing some non-contact workouts in the gym and she was shooting. I remember the girls sitting on the baseline getting ready for practice and their jaws dropped – 'she doesn't miss.' I was like, 'this is Brielle.'
"We miss what she brings on the court because she's a talented individual with a very special skill-set."
There will be some wondering of what could have been for both Wise and the Griffins, but the senior is choosing to focus on what she did accomplish, what she had the privilege of experiencing while at MacEwan.
"It's been frustrating, but I am very grateful for my first two seasons I got to play here," she said. "The first year we made it to final four and made history. My second year, growing into more of a veteran role, it was good to experience that on the court. These last three seasons have been tough in terms of injuries and whatnot, but this season I was excited to come in and … focus on the team and what we're setting out to do and accomplish.
"I just value those games and moments I got to play with (my teammates)," she added. "A lot of these girls I haven't gotten to play with and that kind of sucks, but I'm happy to be around them still and be able to impact them and help them grow."
