LUBBOCK–Just five months after helping lead Lubbock Cooper High School to a regional quarterfinal appearance as a senior, and before she begins her college career as a Crusader this fall, basketball took Karlee Cronk beyond the borders of the Lone Star State weeks ago.
It was an unexpected opportunity when it arrived in her email inbox last summer, as she and her family were en route to a club tournament. Her dad, Brian, an accomplished softball coach at Monterey High School in Lubbock, was familiar with the organization, “America’s Team”, having considered being a coach for one of the organization’s international softball trips. But to be part of it for basketball wasn’t on Cronk’s radar until the invite came in, giving her a chance to play on one of the two United States-based teams competing in the Clash of the Continents tournament in Barcelona, Spain.
She didn’t hesitate in saying ‘Yes’. The June 24-July 2 event gave Cronk, who is part of a stacked incoming class for UMHB women’s basketball, a week of memories she’ll never forget in one of Europe’s most famous cities.
“It’s a life-changing opportunity to play with ‘USA’ across your chest,” Cronk said recently, reflecting on her experience in the previous weeks. “I’m extremely honored that I got the opportunity.”
One of the primary focuses within the mission of “America’s Team” is composing their rosters of future small-college players, giving these high school standouts a chance to gain international playing experience. Cronk, who officially announced her college decision in a signing ceremony on April 18, played alongside multiple NAIA and junior college commits, with Clarke University (NAIA) assistant Haley Froelich head coaching her team. The model is very similar to that of the USA Sports Tours D-III basketball teams, which have competed in Brazil with a roster of Division III all-stars in 14 of the last 15 years.
And in doing so, the organization has quite a large pool of players to pull from, creating an extremely geographically-diverse roster, representing the U.S. from coast to coast. In Barcelona, Cronk played alongside players from Washington, New Jersey, Missouri, Utah, Tennessee, New Mexico, Nebraska, Louisiana, and Kansas. Of course, that considered, the team had very little time to build chemistry before the ball was tipped against their first opponent, a talented high school club team from Spain.
“It was interesting. We had some zoom calls [while we were stateside] so we could figure out how we were going to run plays and all of that,” Cronk said. “But zoom calls aren’t the most efficient. So we didn’t know much about each other until we actually got there.”
That wasn’t a problem. Although they had just two days between their plane touching down on European soil and their first game of the event, the team came together especially well, forming a near-immediate bond, which translated to their on-court performance. Her team placed third in the tournament, going 3-3.
“My team seemed to click as soon as we got off the plane,” Cronk added. “We got on a bus to go to the hotel and instead of sitting with our family that had come on the trip, we sat all together, without even talking about it. Having that was good, because it’s hard to play with people you don’t know very well. The way we clicked and then started playing, I was excited to be part of it.”
The international basketball experience certainly had its intricacies, Cronk said, especially when it came to the style of play. Though it was the same sport, both the Spanish teams’ style of play and the officiating had significant differences compared to what she had grown accustomed to in Texas. The UIL, Texas’ high school sports governing body, is one of several state associations that does not employ the use of a shot clock, so playing with a 24-second shot clock in Spain was an adjustment. Then there was the up-tempo pace utilized by the teams in Spain, combined with the physicality and lack of fouls called. Ultimately, it’s differences like those that make playing basketball in various parts of the world such a unique experience. “It is a different game,” Cronk noted.
“We had practice together the day before our first game, and our coach told us, ‘They play at a different speed.’ I was sitting there, knowing that in high school, our style was really fast and I thought, ‘Okay, I should be fine.’
“But they play extremely fast. Faster than I’ve ever played, and it was really fun to watch them play against each other. Once you get used to it a little bit, it is easier to play with them. But that being our first game, they just ran up and down, and we were all stunned. It took them three steps to go from baseline to baseline.”
From a defensive standpoint, the offensive pace of the Spanish teams proved to be a tough challenge, and especially so when combined with their shot selection. Cronk said they often looked to score inside first, which differed from the style seen across the U.S. in which teams drive the ball to the lane, looking to pass it outside for a perimeter shot.
“They also like to take the inside shot a little more,” Cronk added. “So they’ll play extremely fast, but they’ll still try to get to the hoop. I feel like we tend to play more with the outside shot and then go inside. Their first thought was to go inside, because they have a 24-second shot clock. They move the ball fast, they press the whole time, and they don’t seem like they get tired at all.”
As Cronk spoke about the differences she noticed through her time in Spain, she noted something that is often brought up by American players who experience basketball in other
parts of the world; the game is more physical, and less fouls are called. While the 24-second shot clock and fast-paced style impacts the game, it could easily be argued that the biggest difference in the U.S. version of the sport as compared to South America and Europe is in the amount of contact the defense is allowed to get away with, and the absence of fouls, and trips to the free throw line as a result. It is something former UMHB women’s basketball guard Olivia Champion, who spent a good portion of her childhood in Costa Rica, talked about when we interviewed her back in November of 2021. Jeremie Hart, who served as an assistant coach for the UMHB men’s team following a pro career that included a stint in Mexico’s top league, mentioned it as well. “The games that I played in Latin America were a lot more physical,” Hart remembered. “There weren’t a lot of fouls being called.”
Reflecting on it, Cronk felt she benefitted from getting a taste of that style of basketball in Barcelona, and adjusted relatively quickly following her squad’s first game of the tournament.
“They’ll be pushing you around and everything, and it’s not a foul,” Cronk said. “In our first game, they maybe had four or five fouls called the entire game. It was an adjustment. But once we played the first team, I think we realized how physical we could be and how they were going to be.
“I think it was a great learning experience for me in that aspect of it, because learning how to get up the court in more physical contact than you’re used to, it changes how you can play and see the court. I’m actually very grateful that I was able to learn that before I go to college, because watching the [college] game, I feel like you have a little more pressure than you do in high school. So having [faced] excess amounts of pressure won’t make it an easier transition, but I’m more prepared for it.”
Though they battled against each other, camaraderie between the American and Spanish teams was formed over the course of the tournament. Cronk and her teammates got to know several of the Spanish players, and despite growing up on entirely different continents, basketball was what brought them onto the same court. The international playing experience is certainly about improving a skill set and facing new competition, but it’s also about crossing paths with different people and seeing new parts of the world.
“One of the girls on our team walked up to one of the [Spanish] teams after one of the games and just started talking to them, because we knew one of the girls on the team spoke a little bit of English. So we started talking to them, and they were like, ‘Hey, we should hang out.’ Through that, we started getting to know and learn a lot more about them. That was a great experience, getting to know them outside of just being on the court. I’ve actually stayed in touch with a couple of them. They’re traveling right now, going across Spain playing club games and tournaments. We were their first tournament of the summer.”
As Cronk took the court in Barcelona, she was well aware of the journey it had taken to get her to that moment, playing in a city with a history over 2,000 years old and 5,360 miles from Lubbock. Her success at Cooper High School, both on the court and in the classroom—where she graduated 10th in a class of 438 with a 103.78 GPA—-helped lead to the opportunity with “America’s Team”. It also earned her an offer from UMHB, a program that has reached the NCAA Tournament four times since 2019. When it comes to team achievement, Cooper HS has been amongst the best in the state in recent years, going 112-26 over the last four years. That includes a trip to the 2023 UIL 5A state final, and a third-round appearance in the UIL postseason this past year. As a senior, Cronk started 35 games, shot 55 percent from the field, posted a 3.15 assist-to-turnover ratio, and set the program’s single-season record for rebounds, with 246 (7.02/game). Reflecting on her prep career there, with a high standard every year, Cronk experienced firsthand the feeling of a team playing with a target on its back, and the level of competitiveness required to maintain a team’s winning ways.
“My junior year, we got to play at state, and we went through playoffs with the mindset of ‘We can get there. Nothing is standing in our way. Let’s just go play and do what we love and know how to do.’ The competition was great. Trying to get back there this year, you have to play every game like it’s going to be your last. Everyone is going to give you their best because of the school that we are. You can’t have an off day…All of us striving to play together, and working together, built all of us up, which allowed us to break school records and go to state, and all of those things.”
Cronk will look to carry that mentality into her time with The Cru in the coming weeks. The experience she had playing in Barcelona was exceptional and unique, and the lessons she took away from the tournament there will also play into her first season at UMHB. In a recent conversation with True To The Cru, she was asked what her selling point would be for future players who get similar opportunities to play abroad.
“You get to play the game that you love, and see a new country,” she said. “If you put your mind to it, and talk to the other team and get to know your teammates as well, you’re going to have a good time. It’s an experience you may not have the opportunity to do again, so I wouldn’t pass it up.”
