Women’s basketball adds two Big Ten transfers

DePaul+head+coach+Doug+Bruno+talks+with+Creighton+head+coach+Jim+Flanery+on+March+12%2C+2019+at+Wintrust+Arena

Alexa Sandler | The DePaulia

DePaul head coach Doug Bruno talks with Creighton head coach Jim Flanery on March 12, 2019 at Wintrust Arena

The DePaul women’s basketball team is adding two transfers to the program with 6’2” forward Courtney Fredrickson from Wisconsin and 6’1” Jorie Allen from Indiana. Fredrickson is a graduate transfer and is immediately eligible while freshman Allen will have to sit a year without playing.

The women’s team is losing seniors Chante Stonewall and Kelly Campbell to graduation as well as freshman Marisa Warren to the transfer portal. With the addition of Fredrickson and Allen, the Blue Demons are filling up their roster. 

Fredrickson suffered a knee injury in the third game of the 2018-19 campaign that held her out until January of this year. Prior to the injury, Fredrickson averaged almost nine points a game while scoring in double-figures 15 times including career-highs of 18 points and 14 rebounds against Minnesota. 

“It was really important to me to join a program with a history of success and an outstanding coach that I can learn, grow, and develop from while giving me the freedom to play my best basketball,” Fredrickson said. “DePaul gives me the ability to pursue a master’s in sports marketing to help launch my career in the city of Chicago with all of the connections it has to offer.”

The Minnetonka, Minnesota native was a 4-star recruit coming out of high school and lead her team to the 2016 AAAA state title. 

“Courtney Frederickson was one of the best players in the country and in the state of Minnesota coming out of Minnetonka high school,” Bruno said. “She also played for the nationally acclaimed North Tartan travel program. A 6-2 stretch forward, Courtney brings a versatile interior game to our position-less, DePaul style of play. Courtney can post up, face the basket and shoot the three and is a good passer with a solid pull-up game.”

Allen played in all 32 games for Indiana as a freshman, playing 11 minutes a contest while averaging 1.9 points and 1.8 rebounds. A Bedford, Indiana native, Allen played for her father Jeff at Bedford North Lawrence High School where she won 4 consecutive sectional titles. The 2019 Indiana Miss Basketball averaged 18.1 points and eight rebounds as a senior and was an All-USA Today Second Team selection.

“I am so incredibly excited to continue my career at DePaul,” Allen said. “Coach Bruno recruited me when I was still in high school, and DePaul was one of my top choices from the beginning. I now see that this is where I was meant to be, so I’m grateful he still believes in me and fortunate to be a part of his program.”

Jeff Allen played for DePaul under Ray Meyer in 1981-82 and 1982-83 along with Allen’s uncle Brett Burkholder. 

“Coach Bruno has done so much for the game of basketball and has established this historic and elite program,” Allen said. “Like coach Bruno, my dad and my uncle played at DePaul under coach Ray Meyer, so I understand the rich basketball history of this university and I’m honored to be a part of it.”

Allen will sit this year as NCAA transfer rules state, and will come back as a redshirt in the 2021-22 season. 

“She is a classic position-less player who can be effective scoring and distributing the ball from any of the five positions on the floor,” Bruno said. “Along with her versatility with the ball, Jorie does a great job of moving and scoring without the ball.”