It has been two years since Tauralee Tenn played on a basketball court with the sound of screaming fans in the background.
Tenn played four years for the Canisius College Golden Griffins of the famed National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and now she will don the Raven for Carleton.
Tenn, originally from the Ottawa area, will return to the world of competitive basketball after a stint in the working world.
“I went out into the work world and never thought I’d play again,” she said.
Tenn said Ravens head coach Taffe Charles approached her in the summer while she was taking a course at Carleton, about playing in the upcoming year.
She said she eventually made the decision to return to the court while studying for a master’s in psychology.
“The opportunity arose and I thought ‘why not?’” Tenn said.
“I love playing in front of my home court. That’s one of the things that caught my interest in playing for Carleton,” she said.
Tenn started her career, while playing for the Griffins, with a major setback in her freshman year when she was forced to sit out the entire season with a torn Achilles tendon, she said. As a result, she only ended up playing three years for Canisius.
Tenn said there is little difference in playing in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) and NCAA.
“You go to practice day in and day out [and] we try to push each other, I think that CIS and NCAA the goal is the same we want to reach our full potential and be successful at the end of the day,” she said
Charles said Tenn is a good fit for the team.
“She showed that she was serious about playing and about doing well. So I think it’s been a good fit for both of us,” he said.
The addition of Tenn is already making an impact on the other players.
“She is amazing. She’s had so much experience playing with different players . . . She has so much knowledge not just about basketball but about life,” second-year forward Lindsay Shotbolt said.
During last year’s season, the Ravens made it to the CIS finals in Regina after defeating the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees but had to settle for the consolation round.
The hope for this year’s Ravens is that they can continue to grow from that experience and that players like Tenn can add to the talent on the court, coach Charles said.
Tenn is coming home, not just in a physical sense but back to the sport she loves.
“Being able to compete at a high level, it brings me joy and allows me to escape the stresses of everyday life,” she said. “It’s a way for me to keep in shape and to build friendships that will last for a lifetime.”
