Bartlett grad Videckis leaves Arizona State
Haley Videckis is home. And she's looking for a new home.
Videckis, the Bartlett product who was the honorary co-captain of the 2011-12 Daily Herald Fox Valley all-area girls basketball team, told the Daily Herald Thursday she has left the team at Arizona State University and been granted her release to seek a new school and a new basketball program.
“It was my decision,” said Videckis while watching the Big Ten women's tournament at the Sears Centre Thursday. “I enjoyed a successful freshman year there but ASU isn't the place I want to continue my college career. I'm thankful for the opportunity but I'm ready to do greater things and I'd like to play in the Big Ten.”
Videckis, who came home for her grandfather's funeral, said she was granted her release during a meeting on Monday with Sun Devils' coach Charli Turner Thorne. Videckis averaged 6.7 points and 3.3 rebounds per game for ASU, the highlight of her season coming on Feb. 24 when she hit the game-winning 3-pointer to beat rival Arizona 59-58. ASU was 13-17 heading into Thursday's PAC-12 tournament.
Videckis, who originally committed to Indiana then chose Arizona State instead, said she hopes to land at a Big Ten school and she is contacting coaches from Illinois and Northwestern. According to NCAA transfer rules, she will have to sit out a full season.
“It's going to be the best for me,” she said. “It will give me a chance to sit back and look at the game from a different perspective. At ASU they had me playing in the post. Now I'll have a year to redevelop my guard skills. I'm keeping my options open but I'd love to play in the Big Ten and I'm hoping to stay in Illinois and close to family. I'm excited to be coming home. It would be great to play in the Big Ten. I feel like I'd fit in at Illinois or Northwestern.”
Videckis, who led Bartlett to a third-place finish in last year's IHSA Class 4A state tournament, said she doesn't regret the decision to go to Arizona State.
“Not at all,” she said. “I found myself and now I have a greater purpose. I have no regrets. Everything happens for a reason. It was my dream school and I would have regretted it if I didn't go there.”
Videckis said she'll be home until March 17, when she will return not ASU to finish the semester, which ends in late April, academically.