Former T-Bird Star, Alli Gloyd, to Play Professional Basketball in Germany
Wolfenbüttel, Germany – Former MCC Thunderbird Alli Gloyd, who competed for Coach Kori Stephenson and then transferred to the University of Arizona, recently arrived in Wolfenbüttel, Germany to begin her second professional basketball contract in the DBBL.
Wolfenbüttel , a town of over 52,000 people, is located in Lower Saxony (northcentral Germany) and is the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel District. More familiar, it is the world headquarters of Jägermeister, the popular herbal liqueur.
Gloyd attended MCC from 2010 – 2012 and was part of a one-two combo of talented post players who helped their team to a 27-8 record (15-5 ACCAC).
They also defeated the Pima Aztecs in the 2012 ACCAC Region 1 Division 2 championship, advancing to the NJCAA Women's Basketball Tournament in Peoria, IL where they finished 5th overall.
While at Mesa, Alli was recognized as the Arizona Community College Athletic Association (ACCAC) Player of the Year in 2012.
In addition, she garnered First Team All-American, First-Team All-Region, and First-Team All-ACCAC honors. Averaging 15 points and 8.8 rebounds while shooting 47.5% from the field, she was a force to be reckoned with as a Thunderbird, often drawing double and triple teams during her time on the Mesa hardwood. After the national tournament appearance, Alli fielded numerous options from across the country.
She visited and received offers from Missouri, Long Beach State, Weber State, and several others, then decided on the University of Arizona.
She went on to compete for Coach Niya Butts in the PAC-12 where she completed both undergraduate and graduate degrees in Public Policy and Management (BS) and Educational Leadership (M.Ed).
After tearing her ACL during a scrimmage early in her senior season, Gloyd took a redshirt year while completing her undergraduate degree and contemplating her future as a basketball player.
Initially, she thought she was going to be done with basketball and wanted to enter the workforce after finishing her master's degree and final year of collegiate competition.
But after extensive rehab to strengthen her knee, completing her final season as a Wildcat, and then serving as Assistant Director of Basketball Operations from 2015 – 2016, she experienced a resurging desire to compete and began training while working with her U of A coaches to procure a trainer and information on how to go overseas.
Her hard work and tenacity paid off as she eventually received her first contract in May 2016, becoming MCC's first professional women's basketball player coached by Kori Stephenson.
Traveling to Australia, she competed for the Mildura Heat from Mildura, Victoria, where they advanced to the semi-finals of the 2016 Big V League tournament in August of this year.
Although losing in Game 2 of the semi-finals at the hands of the undefeated Sundbury Jets, Alli did very well for the Heat, earning several Player of the Week honors as well as scoring 14 points in their semi-final loss.
After returning home, Gloyd's agent was working to get her onto a European team, something that is almost a necessity to expand into the larger European market.
As she waited she made her way back to MCC where she has spent the past several weeks lending a hand and encouragement to the new group of Lady Thunderbird basketball players in their early season workouts. Just last week Alli received word that she would be leaving to Germany to compete for the Wolfenbüttel Wolfpack (formerly the Wildcats).
The Wolfpack compete in Germany's Damen-Basketball-Bundesligen (DBBL) and their 22-game season opens on September 24, 2016.
After just her second day of practice Alli is excited as she explained that she likes how her new team is extremely versatile and she is grateful to have teammates with whom she can share the load, who can shoot, score, defend, and rebound.
She also noticed the heightened level of competition, in comparison to her time in Australia and she is looking forward to developing her game and growing as a professional basketball player.
We want to wish Alli the best and we are proud of her for the opportunities she has received as she continues to represent her family, Arizona, MCC, and its women's basketball program at a global level.
We love you Alli and we will be following you.