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With tenacity comes success

Photo by Kayla Johnson.

This season has been somewhat of a breakout year for junior Chelsea Brackmann.

The 6-foot-1 forward from New Berlin, Wisconsin takes advantage of her height every time she steps on the floor.

As she averages 12.8 points and 10.9 rebounds a game this season, Brackmann is already tied at seventh in Bradley history for single season rebounding with 261. She is on pace to break the all-time record and pass former teammate Leti Lerma’s mark of 324.

Brackmann still speaks with Lerma on occasion and credits her for guidance when she was a freshman.

“[My] and Leti’s game are kinda similar and she set a platform for me to try to reach,” Brackmann said. “We joke around sometimes about me breaking her rebounding record. I don’t even know what it is or where I’m at either.”

That’s Brackmann. To her, it’s just the game. But it’s not all about rebounding. According to senior forward Vanessa Markert, Brackmann is now a leader on and off the court.

“Chelsea, this year, has really stepped into a more of a leadership role on the court,” Markert said. “That is not limited to the court, she is also leading us in the classroom and weight room. She is making sure she is efficient every night, but also has high standards for us as well.”

Markert also says her frontcourt counterpart has challenged her and allowed her game to develop in turn.

“We have both battled for the last three years both offensively and defensively,” Markert said. “We push each other every single day in practice.”

That challenge has allowed Brackmann to elevate her game after last season in which she thought she underperformed.

“I think it was me having such a bad year last year that motivated me to do what am I this year,” Brackmann said. “I’m just trying to show that last year wasn’t me and trying to show what I can do.”

Earlier this season, head coach Andrea Gorski spoke highly of Brackmann because of the steady improvement and saw a bounce back in the works for this season. Though Brackmann is not the team’s leading scorer, her impact is not undermined, according to Gorski.

“She has put the team on her back several games,” Gorski said. “Sometimes I want her to be a little more confident, but I think she has gotten to a consistent level where she feels like she can score on anyone and that’s what we need her to do … be able to take people one-on-one.”

Although Gorski didn’t recruit Brackmann to Bradley, the coach knew she could be a great player for the program.

“She was a really versatile post player who could play both ends of the floor really well,” Gorski said. “As her freshman year wore on, she developed that confidence and got on the all-freshman team.”

In high school, Brackmann helped lead her high school team to a state championship and earned recognition as a Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association all-star her senior season. Continuing her streak of accolades, she was named to the Missouri Valley Conference all-freshman team her first season.

According to Markert and Gorski, Brackmann battles on the defensive end of the floor, puts in a great effort and does the dirty work to help the team win.

“She can step in and take charges and can really go and get any type of rebound,” Gorski said. “It doesn’t have to come right to her, she has that mentality like any rebound is hers and every team needs someone like that.”

Brackmann’s father, Bernd, who played soccer in Germany, may have instilled that mentality. At an early age, Chelsea was put on the soccer pitch before stepping on the basketball court.

“Growing up, I always played soccer because my dad and I didn’t even really think about basketball until fifth grade,” Brackmann said. “I was just that really tall kid, and a guy asked me one day if I ever wanted to try basketball, and so I started basketball and stopped soccer because I was terrible at it.”

Brackmann says she looks to pursue a basketball career even after college hoops. She said even if she is not picked up by a team abroad, she is prepared to continue her schooling at a medical school and pursue a career relating to her major of health science.

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