Blazers Women's Basketball Ink Post with Big Potential
The CMU Women's Basketball program is very pleased to announce the commitment of Chanelle Lafreniere for the 2023-24 MCAC and NIAC seasons. The Miles Macdonell Collegiate forward has seen her game grow at an unprecedented pace and will look to bring it to the college court this upcoming season.
A relative newcomer to the game, Lafreniere has brought athleticism and perseverence to training every practice to improve her own skillset, lifting her high school Buckeyes team to the MHSAA "AAAA" Provincials in consecutive varsity seasons. Lafreniere and her team played their way to a KPAC Finals appearance in 2022, earning their way into the provincial championships, while this season the team played their way into the tournament with a wildcard placement. Despite not going deep in either playoff run, it was still a valuable experience playing and watching some of the top schools in the province. Just this past season the team also made the finals in the prestigious St Mary's Tournament, once again showcasing the strength of the Miles Mac program.
Now recently completed her final high school basketball season, Lafreniere can focus on finishing up her academics for the year before joining Blazers training in the summer. Her head coach at Miles Mac, Erin Soroko is also enthusiastic about seeing one of her impact players make the jump to the MCAC, stating "it has been an absolute pleasure coaching Chanelle these past two years at Miles Macdonell Collegiate. To say Chanelle has improved over the past two seasons is a huge understatement! The hard work and perseverance she has put in to develop her inside game and extend her shooting range has been a huge part of our team success. Chanelle's drive to improve combined with her athleticism and mobility makes it extremely difficult to stop her when she is attacking the rim. I am so excited for Chanelle to continue her basketball journey next year and know that she will be agreat addition to the CMU program."
Excited to start her journey at CMU, Lafreniere is looking forward to honing her skills on the court, while beginning her post-secondary education working towards a career in criminal law. She will join teammate and MCAC and NIAC All-Star Oluwanifemi Gbadamosi in the Blazers' front court this season, creating a veritable powerhouse tandem under the basket. Lafreniere uses her free time away from studying playing four on four pickup basketball at the YMCA, and the extra work has payed off allowing her to catch the eye of Blazers' head coach Joe DiCurzio. "We are thrilled to have Chanelle join the Blazers," beamed DiCurzio, who is now entering his eleventh season with the program. "She brings great athleticism and length that will really help our team. Her ability to attack the basket is tremendous, and defensively she will be able to defend anyone. Her work habits are incredible which really fits into the Blazer culture. Another great strength that Chanelle has is that she is also a terrific student and this will help her fit in really well at CMU where we really focus on the student aspect of student-athlete."
With the 2023-23 season now complete, the Blazers will soon start gearing up for next year when they will look to defend their MCAC title and put together another fantastic run South of the border after the team were finalists this year in their first season back in the NIAC since their 2020 Championship win.
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