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A co-captain on the Swift Current Comp. Ardens senior girl's basketball team has committed to one of the nation's top collegiate programs for next season.
Dani Meyer recently accepted an athletics scholarship to attend Lakeland College and play for the Rustlers in the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association.
The Swift Current point guard said there were several reasons she's joining the Rustlers for the next step in her basketball career.
"I really wanted to play under Chris King, because he won the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Coach of the Year award," she said. "I also wanted a chance to play on a national championship-winning team. They have great team culture and I also get to play with a former Arden Veda Gottselig."
Gottselig and the Rustlers went a perfect 26-0 last year winning the national title on their home court knocking off the Lambton Lions from Ontario 64-55. King won his fifth CCAA Women's Basketball Coach of the Year since 2014-15.
Meyer has already toured the school and campus and even practiced with the squad she will compete on within the next calendar year. King's recruitment of Meyer also included some confidence-boosting praise.
"They told me that 'they were excited to have me and wanted to sign me soon'," she said. "My academics would get me a scholarship as well into the school, not just from them. They're really excited about it and said that they 'have great team culture and I will fit in well with them'."
Her eligibility for an academic entrance scholarship paired with her athletics one, will at minimum cover her tuition.
Meyer heading into her final season with the Ardens, a team that placed fourth in a shortened one-day HOOPLA last season, has peace of mind knowing her basketball career will continue.
"It takes off some of the pressure but I also feel like I have something to work towards," she said. "I'm not at the level I need to be yet. I need to use this season to prepare for Lakeland."
Meyer will enroll in their Bachelor of Science in Biology at Lakeland through a partnership with Athabasca University. She then aims to transfer to either the University of Saskatchewan or the University of Alberta to obtain her Master of Physical Therapy.