Oh, Canada! Todd Readying For BC
July 13, 2022 | Women's Basketball, #ForBoston Files
BC's freshman class features the leading scorer from this summer's FIBA Women's U-18 Americas Championship tournament.
The life of a college athlete is built around constant, steady improvements. Regular seasons serve as the central focus of their year, but the rest of their time is spent in the form of a training lab. They spend hours practicing and training both in a weight room and on their respective fields with the understanding that the time invested has an eventual pay-off.
Most of that time occurs during the summer when classwork is at a minimum. Their lives operate closer to professional athletes with a one-track mind geared specifically towards their work, and the hot months and dog days are more likely spent on a court or in a field than at the beach or in the sunshine.
It's a well-known annual process, but it often overlooks the freshmen who are about to join their teams. Their schedules are more erratic and aren't yet in lockstep with teammates already onboarded to practice schedules and training regimens, but they still have to work at improving their game while capitalizing on any opportunity.
For T'Yana Todd, that meant wading into international waters as a member of the Canadian Under-18 national team. A top-ranked prospect who committed to Boston College, she attacked the international stage last month in Argentina as the FIBA U-18 Women's Americas Championship's leading scorer while ensuring her native homeland finished second for the sixth time in eight tournaments.
"[The tournament] was a great opportunity to have that chance to represent my country with other individual players from Canada," Todd said. "We all just worked really hard, and I really put myself out there to give my all. I ended up as the leading scorer and an [all-tournament] all-star, which was really my personal goal when I set out to play."
The week-long event pitted eight qualifiers advancing out of three separate zones spanning North America, Central America and the Caribbean, and South America. Canada, an annual qualifier from the North American zone, was joined by the United States while Mexico, Puerto Rico and El Salvador qualified alongside Brazil, Colombia and Argentina, the host country.
The Canadian group included that host nation with Brazil and Mexico, but the team easily cruised through its first three games with an undefeated record. Todd led all scorers in each of those results by posting 16, 15 and 17 points against Mexico, Brazil and Argentina, respectively, while simultaneously posting double-digit rebounds combined on the defensive end. She twice recorded plus/minus values over plus-20 and had her most efficient game in the finale against Argentina.
The performances clinched a top seed for the knockout stage that started on June 17, and over the next two days, Canada went on a run that qualified the country for its fourth consecutive finals appearance. Though not the leading scorer in a 68-point win over El Salvador, her plus-38 overall performance included a fourth quarter in which Canada held its opponent without a made field goal. Rematched with Argentina one day later, she regained the mantle in a 15-point win to help establish a gold medal matchup with the United States, the Group B winner.
Todd arguably played her best in that moment, and though the Canadians lost to their North American rival, her 19 points showcased both her ability to hit both three-pointers and free throws. She finished 4-for-8 from beyond the arc with one of her best performances of the tournament, and her 5-for-8 day from the line combined for her best overall offensive performance of the tournament.
"We went into our first game against Mexico thinking that the style of play was similar [to Canadian basketball]," Todd said, "and it really wasn't. We learned that South American teams play at a faster pace and pressure the whole court, so that's what we started to do. That style of play was different and a lot faster than what we were used to, coming out of North America, and it forced us to adjust."
Todd likely would have won the tournament's Most Valuable Player if Canada won the gold medal, but the five-point loss ceded the award to Kira Rice. Still, she finished the tournament as the leading scorer overall by averaging just over 15 points per game and helped Canada maintain its position as one of the top four teams in the FIBA World Rankings, a necessity for next year's U-19 World Championships in Spain.
It also offered a preview of coming attractions for a future Boston College Eagle. The fifth commitment of the class of 2022, she spent her final season at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida and helped the school advance to the Geico Nationals for the first time in program history. The Ontario native finished the season as a participant in the Biosteel All-Canadian game while earning a nomination to the 2022 McDonald's All-American Game.
"When COVID-19 happened in 2020, everything was pretty much shut down," she said. "Nothing really could happen [in Ontario], and my recruitment really felt like it hit a block. I had to figure something out, and IMG presented itself as an opportunity that I ran with.
"Now I'll be coming to BC," she said, "and I just want to be the best all-around player that I can be. I can score, whether it's going to the basket or getting a deep three, and defensively, I feel like I have the potential to lock down guards and positions, one through four. That makes me versatile and very excited for the season, but I know I have to just get into [BC's] culture and get to know everyone, start to play games and interact with fans. That's always my favorite part, seeing what we can build with families and everybody in the community to bring everybody together [around basketball]."
Most of that time occurs during the summer when classwork is at a minimum. Their lives operate closer to professional athletes with a one-track mind geared specifically towards their work, and the hot months and dog days are more likely spent on a court or in a field than at the beach or in the sunshine.
It's a well-known annual process, but it often overlooks the freshmen who are about to join their teams. Their schedules are more erratic and aren't yet in lockstep with teammates already onboarded to practice schedules and training regimens, but they still have to work at improving their game while capitalizing on any opportunity.
For T'Yana Todd, that meant wading into international waters as a member of the Canadian Under-18 national team. A top-ranked prospect who committed to Boston College, she attacked the international stage last month in Argentina as the FIBA U-18 Women's Americas Championship's leading scorer while ensuring her native homeland finished second for the sixth time in eight tournaments.
"[The tournament] was a great opportunity to have that chance to represent my country with other individual players from Canada," Todd said. "We all just worked really hard, and I really put myself out there to give my all. I ended up as the leading scorer and an [all-tournament] all-star, which was really my personal goal when I set out to play."
The week-long event pitted eight qualifiers advancing out of three separate zones spanning North America, Central America and the Caribbean, and South America. Canada, an annual qualifier from the North American zone, was joined by the United States while Mexico, Puerto Rico and El Salvador qualified alongside Brazil, Colombia and Argentina, the host country.
The Canadian group included that host nation with Brazil and Mexico, but the team easily cruised through its first three games with an undefeated record. Todd led all scorers in each of those results by posting 16, 15 and 17 points against Mexico, Brazil and Argentina, respectively, while simultaneously posting double-digit rebounds combined on the defensive end. She twice recorded plus/minus values over plus-20 and had her most efficient game in the finale against Argentina.
The performances clinched a top seed for the knockout stage that started on June 17, and over the next two days, Canada went on a run that qualified the country for its fourth consecutive finals appearance. Though not the leading scorer in a 68-point win over El Salvador, her plus-38 overall performance included a fourth quarter in which Canada held its opponent without a made field goal. Rematched with Argentina one day later, she regained the mantle in a 15-point win to help establish a gold medal matchup with the United States, the Group B winner.
Todd arguably played her best in that moment, and though the Canadians lost to their North American rival, her 19 points showcased both her ability to hit both three-pointers and free throws. She finished 4-for-8 from beyond the arc with one of her best performances of the tournament, and her 5-for-8 day from the line combined for her best overall offensive performance of the tournament.
"We went into our first game against Mexico thinking that the style of play was similar [to Canadian basketball]," Todd said, "and it really wasn't. We learned that South American teams play at a faster pace and pressure the whole court, so that's what we started to do. That style of play was different and a lot faster than what we were used to, coming out of North America, and it forced us to adjust."
Todd likely would have won the tournament's Most Valuable Player if Canada won the gold medal, but the five-point loss ceded the award to Kira Rice. Still, she finished the tournament as the leading scorer overall by averaging just over 15 points per game and helped Canada maintain its position as one of the top four teams in the FIBA World Rankings, a necessity for next year's U-19 World Championships in Spain.
It also offered a preview of coming attractions for a future Boston College Eagle. The fifth commitment of the class of 2022, she spent her final season at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida and helped the school advance to the Geico Nationals for the first time in program history. The Ontario native finished the season as a participant in the Biosteel All-Canadian game while earning a nomination to the 2022 McDonald's All-American Game.
"When COVID-19 happened in 2020, everything was pretty much shut down," she said. "Nothing really could happen [in Ontario], and my recruitment really felt like it hit a block. I had to figure something out, and IMG presented itself as an opportunity that I ran with.
"Now I'll be coming to BC," she said, "and I just want to be the best all-around player that I can be. I can score, whether it's going to the basket or getting a deep three, and defensively, I feel like I have the potential to lock down guards and positions, one through four. That makes me versatile and very excited for the season, but I know I have to just get into [BC's] culture and get to know everyone, start to play games and interact with fans. That's always my favorite part, seeing what we can build with families and everybody in the community to bring everybody together [around basketball]."
Players Mentioned
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