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Yelle finds solace on the Hilltop in leading young Braves

Kat Yelle has seen this before.

She’s no stranger to being on a young team that’s trying to establish its identity and its footing.
Yelle comes to Bradley as a fifth year senior after graduating from Ohio University, where she was playing point guard for the Bobcats.

However, enrolling in graduate school at Bradley was based on a decision to be close to home rather than playing basketball.

“I really wasn’t planning on playing again, taking a fifth year,” Yelle said. “I just know that I didn’t want to be hours from home again. I just wanted to be closer to home and I just wanted to get my masters.”

The Geneva native figured she was done with basketball after a season of a lifetime, where she helped the Bobcats reach the NCAA tournament.

However, the hunger to keep playing on the hardwood lingered.

“It was one of those things where you know you’re going to miss [it], but I didn’t know I was going to miss it that bad,” Yelle said. “It was little things like walking past a court and just getting sad.”

Yelle had a season of eiligibility left, and the hunger to play nagged at her just long enough to solidify her decision to play for the Braves. Luckily for her, there was a familar face on the coaching staff that could vouch for her.

“Coach [Skyler Young] was my recruiting coach out of high school,” Yelle said. “He was at Ohio when I was a freshman and he left after my freshman year to come here.”

Women’s head coach Michael Brooks said Young told him about her versatility on the court.

“She graduated early and got a release, and called us after that release and Sky was like ‘She can play a lot of places,’” Brooks said. “We used that connection that she already had.”

With an opportunity to continue playing, Yelle couldn’t let the chance pass.

“I didn’t want to look back years from now and regret having an extra year to play and not taking it,” Yelle said.

Brooks said another reason they looked into Yelle was because of how she was a natural fit on the team.

“She just fits our system, the way she pushes the ball,” Brooks said. “Her ability to play pressure defense just falls in line. It’s been an easier transition because we do the things that she likes to do.”

System wise, the team was a natural fit. However, Yelle said she’s a natural fit in more ways than just one.

“I was just a part of a program that’s the same story,” Yelle said. “This team reminds me a lot of that team that was at Ohio and how we turned it around in one season.”

The NCAA tournament team Yelle was a part of was in a similar position that Bradley is in now.

“We were really young my junior season and I think [we] started three freshmen, but the freshmen class was like six,” Yelle said. “We were really immature… [There was] a lot of bickering and a lot of fighting and everything was someone else’s fault.”

Once again, Yelle finds herself on a team in need of an identity, but she said that’s what she likes about the team.

“I saw a lot of that same story when I chose to come here,” Yelle said. “I like being a part of the building force, and I see a lot of potential in this team.”

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