Indian Creek senior-to-be Faith Wiseman played for adidas’ Team USA Select in June.
Submitted photo
There are road trips, and then there are roads-I’ve-never-heard-of trips.
Last month, rising Indian Creek senior Faith Wiseman was one of 20 girls high school basketball players in the United States selected to take part in the adidas Eurocamp in Treviso, Italy.
Needless to say, that falls into the latter of the two categories.
A 6-foot-4 center who verbally committed to Indiana University last October, Wiseman savored all aspects of being abroad from June 4-16. Included were instruction from former professional players, actual game competition and tours of Rome and Venice.
Wiseman and her teammates and coaches took a boat ride and visited shops in Venice; being in Rome offered them the opportunity to experience the Colosseum, the Sistine Chapel and more.
“It was a ton of fun,” said Wiseman, a three-year starter for the Braves who averaged 16.1 points and 9.4 rebounds last season while leading the team to a 27-2 record and the Class 3A semistate. “I’m so blessed to be able to make a lot of new friends. I had never been out of the country before, but it was a really good experience.”
The lone negative in terms of the trip’s timing was that Wiseman, chosen in March as one of six core members of the Indiana Junior All-Star team, didn’t get to take part. Indiana faced the Kentucky junior squad on June 4 at Jeffersonville High School and played against the Indiana All-Stars three days later at Cathedral High School.
Wiseman’s teammate at Indian Creek, guard Lauren Foster, took part in the first of those games as a member of the Junior All-Stars’ Red group.
“Although it was an amazing honor to be invited to be a part of the Indiana Junior All-Stars, I knew the adidas Eurocamp was once in a lifetime,” Wiseman said. “I never know when I will get another chance to go to Italy, so I had to take it.
“I knew the Indiana All-Stars will happen again next year. I will work hard, and continue to grow my game and hope that they will pick me next year as well.”
The adidas Eurocamp is run in conjunction with a boys’ camp by the same name having connections to the NBA and WNBA.
Players from the United States were made into two teams, Team USA Select, which included Wiseman, and the 3SSB Select Team. The showcase also included two squads comprised solely of European players, meaning that every team played three games.
Wiseman’s team finished with a 3-0 record. Along the way, she made new friends: Avery Howell (Boise, Idaho), Britt Prince (Elkhorn, Nebraska) and Brynn McGaughy (Colfax, Washington) among them.
“It was just so fun playing with and against such a high level of players,” said Wiseman, who’ll enter the Braves’ 2023-24 season with career totals of 983 points, 762 rebounds and 221 blocked shots. “I feel I definitely improved my confidence, and definitely my attack mode.
“I knew I had to play harder and attack harder. I felt like I played pretty well.”
