Rabb looks forward to basketball again this fall

Vishe Rabb, a 2017 graduate of Springfield High School, has completed three years of her college education at Augustana University in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.  She is spending the summer with her family in Springfield—amid the COVID-19 pandemic—recuperating and working out in anticipation of her upcoming junior year and returning to the Augustana University Viking basketball team.

Vishe was a standout on the Springfield Tiger varsity girls basketball team.  She scored 1,728 points in her high school career and averaged 26.3 points per game, along with 7.5 rebounds and 3.8 steals per game during her senior season with the Tigers.  Her participation and success in sports motivated her to move on to the college level—specifically, wearing navy blue and gold in the Augustana  women’s basketball program.  She commented “Being able to do multiple sports in high school helped me to become a more dynamic player because every sport demands different skills.  At any level there is competitive drive, so high school sports taught me that early on and helped develop my work ethic.”

Rabb says her Augustana experience has been great so far.  “The community is very welcoming and athletics has brought me a lot of opportunities and given me connections to so many great people,” she stated.  She has learned to balance her life more than in high school when it comes to showing up mentally for basketball and academics, while still having time for social activities.

As a freshman, Rabb was redshirted.  The redshirt year is something that Augustana usually extends to incoming freshmen to get them prepared for when it is time to play and contribute on the basketball court.  That experience was very rewarding for her and improved her skills for the college level.  “Without the redshirt year, I don’t think I would have been able to compete as well as I did my first year of play.  It comes with a lot of ups and downs,” she stated.  Rabb would recommend a redshirt year to any athlete because it makes them a better player and teammate.

See complete story in this week's issue of the Springfield Advance-Press.