SE: Dallinger’s International Basketball Journey Leads Her to K-State
Nov 03, 2021 | Women's Basketball, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
Rebekah Dallinger was 11 years old the first time she played in a basketball game. She lived in New South Wales. Four family members were going to play in a local competition. They needed a fifth player. They asked Rebekah to play. She said, "No, way." She was a shy and anxious girl. They convinced her to play. She refused to touch the basketball.
"I stood in the corner and cried the whole game," she says.
That changed.
Today, Dallinger sits in the Kansas State women's basketball office. She wears a pink hoodie that in white letters reads, "Women Play Ball Too." She has just finished basketball practice with her new K-State teammates in the Ice Family Basketball Center. The Wildcats officially begin their 2021-22 regular season against Central Arkansas next Tuesday at Bramlage Coliseum.
"We have a countdown in the locker room, and everyday we say, 'Tomorrow it'll be 'X' number of days before game day,'" Dallinger says. "I can't imagine what it's going to be like. I'm excited for the energy, the atmosphere, and I'm excited to play in front of our fans."
Dallinger is a 5-foot-9 sophomore transfer guard from Miles Community College in Montana. She was the 2021 National Junior College Athletics Association Division I Player of the Year. She led all junior college players in points per game (25.8), points scored (644), field goals made (212) and free throws made (163). She also averaged 6.8 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 2.8 steals. She scored 20 or more points in 19 games, and she scored 30 or more points in nine games. Once, she scored 42 points and grabbed 17 rebounds in a game.
A native of Sydney, Australia, the 20-year-old Dallinger aspires to play professional basketball upon graduation from K-State. She seems to be settling in just fine with the Wildcats and could make an impact in her first season under head coach Jeff Mittie.
"She's mixed in terrific with the team," Mittie says. "She's always upbeat, and always loves to be around. She has a great knack for scoring the ball and has good anticipation skills on defense. She's going to give us a 3-point shooter, a really crafty scorer, and she's adjusting well to the Division I level."
While Dallinger remains focused on the upcoming season, a small piece of her remains back home in Sydney, which she was able to visit in June for the first time in over a year. Her grandparents adoringly called her return "The Rebekah World Tour." But then Sydney went into pandemic lockdown a week before she left, so she could only say goodbye to her mother, Kristy, and older sister, Maddison, when she returned to the United States.
"Seeing them was literally better than anything in the world," Dallinger says. "But then they went into lockdown and that's been really rough. They just got out of lockdown last week, so my mom finally got to see my grandparents again. She hadn't been able to see them since I left. It's been really tough on all of us. This morning, they sent me a video of them reuniting. It was really sweet to see."
Dallinger's first love was Netball. In Netball, which is widely popular in Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand, the baskets are called "goal rings," there is no backboard, players are assigned specific positions, dribbling is illegal, and passing is the passage to success.
She chuckles over the memory of her 11-year-old self, crying in her first basketball game, because two years later, she was being coached in basketball by the legendary international basketball star Shane Heal, who represented Australia in four Olympic Games and had two stints in the NBA with the Minnesota Timberwolves (1996-97) and San Antonio Spurs (2003-04). Dallinger was childhood teammates with Shayla Heal, who was selected by the Chicago Sky in the first round of the 2021 WNBA Draft. Together, Dallinger and Heal won a youth national championship.
"It was the biggest crowd I'd ever seen — maybe 1,000 people," Dallinger recalls. "It was really fun to be with my friends, and I think that's when I realized that it's not just about competing but having fun as well. It was crazy. We were not expecting a championship."
Dallinger averaged 20.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists at Narrabeen Sports High School, a government-funded co-educational comprehensive and sports-specialist secondary school near the northern coast of Sydney. She had an option of playing semiprofessional basketball in Australia, but she knew women's basketball players who went to junior colleges and Division I schools in the United States, including a few players who played at Miles Community College. That interested her.
Three years prior, she had visited the United States for the first time. Her team won a tournament in Dallas. They won a big trophy. They sat with it on the flight home.
"It was really good exposure to come (to the United States)," Dallinger says. "I was like, 'I want to come here and play.'"
Dallinger watched the Big 12 Conference from afar. She enjoyed watching Brittney Griner. She also enjoyed following several Australian-born players who played at Big 12 schools. She watched Baylor, Texas and Texas Tech.
"My dream was always to play against them," she says. "Now I'm here and it's just crazy how it worked out that way. I'm super excited."
K-State assistant coach Ebony Haliburton brought up Dallinger's name from the community college level. Associate head coach Brian Ostermann knew Miles Community College athletic director Jerry Olson. The entire K-State coaching staff got Dallinger on a Zoom call. She was sold.
"They were one of the main schools who asked to be in contact with my family," Dallinger says. "They were like, 'We want your mom on the calls. We need her to know that we're here for her as well.' They let her know that if she ever needed anything they were there for her. That was a main factor. And these facilities are crazy. I've never seen anything like it. Bramlage is bigger than half of the professional arenas back home. The facilities and coaching staff were really what got me here."
When Dallinger arrived in Manhattan in July, members of the staff and several of her new teammates met her face-to-face for the first time in the basketball facility lobby. They hugged. Then everyone helped her move into her apartment.
"It's such a positive atmosphere," she says.
Her addiction is shooting. She gets excited when she talks about it. She remains somewhat bewildered that there are so many opportunities for her to improve her game under one roof and virtually at any time.
"Everything we need is literally right here — rebounders, the gun, helpers," she says. "It's so much easier to get up extra shots than it was when I was home. Three or four years ago I was never known as a shooter. I realized that I couldn't drive the ball all the time. I said, 'I've got to do something about this. Somebody is going to take my drive away.' I didn't have a really good 3-point shot until I came to college. Going to juco and being able to shoot the way that I did was really good for me.
"I love just having the resources to help me develop my shot and to be more consistent."
Next Tuesday, she'll jog out of the locker room with her teammates for her first official game in a K-State uniform. The band will play. The fans will cheer. The lights will shine bright. This is just the beginning. There's so much more to go. But for a moment, she might let it all soak in, her path and her climb to this point. Yes, for a moment, she might pause.
She might even shed a tear.
Rebekah Dallinger was 11 years old the first time she played in a basketball game. She lived in New South Wales. Four family members were going to play in a local competition. They needed a fifth player. They asked Rebekah to play. She said, "No, way." She was a shy and anxious girl. They convinced her to play. She refused to touch the basketball.
"I stood in the corner and cried the whole game," she says.
That changed.
Today, Dallinger sits in the Kansas State women's basketball office. She wears a pink hoodie that in white letters reads, "Women Play Ball Too." She has just finished basketball practice with her new K-State teammates in the Ice Family Basketball Center. The Wildcats officially begin their 2021-22 regular season against Central Arkansas next Tuesday at Bramlage Coliseum.
"We have a countdown in the locker room, and everyday we say, 'Tomorrow it'll be 'X' number of days before game day,'" Dallinger says. "I can't imagine what it's going to be like. I'm excited for the energy, the atmosphere, and I'm excited to play in front of our fans."
Dallinger is a 5-foot-9 sophomore transfer guard from Miles Community College in Montana. She was the 2021 National Junior College Athletics Association Division I Player of the Year. She led all junior college players in points per game (25.8), points scored (644), field goals made (212) and free throws made (163). She also averaged 6.8 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 2.8 steals. She scored 20 or more points in 19 games, and she scored 30 or more points in nine games. Once, she scored 42 points and grabbed 17 rebounds in a game.
A native of Sydney, Australia, the 20-year-old Dallinger aspires to play professional basketball upon graduation from K-State. She seems to be settling in just fine with the Wildcats and could make an impact in her first season under head coach Jeff Mittie.
"She's mixed in terrific with the team," Mittie says. "She's always upbeat, and always loves to be around. She has a great knack for scoring the ball and has good anticipation skills on defense. She's going to give us a 3-point shooter, a really crafty scorer, and she's adjusting well to the Division I level."
While Dallinger remains focused on the upcoming season, a small piece of her remains back home in Sydney, which she was able to visit in June for the first time in over a year. Her grandparents adoringly called her return "The Rebekah World Tour." But then Sydney went into pandemic lockdown a week before she left, so she could only say goodbye to her mother, Kristy, and older sister, Maddison, when she returned to the United States.
"Seeing them was literally better than anything in the world," Dallinger says. "But then they went into lockdown and that's been really rough. They just got out of lockdown last week, so my mom finally got to see my grandparents again. She hadn't been able to see them since I left. It's been really tough on all of us. This morning, they sent me a video of them reuniting. It was really sweet to see."
Dallinger's first love was Netball. In Netball, which is widely popular in Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand, the baskets are called "goal rings," there is no backboard, players are assigned specific positions, dribbling is illegal, and passing is the passage to success.
She chuckles over the memory of her 11-year-old self, crying in her first basketball game, because two years later, she was being coached in basketball by the legendary international basketball star Shane Heal, who represented Australia in four Olympic Games and had two stints in the NBA with the Minnesota Timberwolves (1996-97) and San Antonio Spurs (2003-04). Dallinger was childhood teammates with Shayla Heal, who was selected by the Chicago Sky in the first round of the 2021 WNBA Draft. Together, Dallinger and Heal won a youth national championship.
"It was the biggest crowd I'd ever seen — maybe 1,000 people," Dallinger recalls. "It was really fun to be with my friends, and I think that's when I realized that it's not just about competing but having fun as well. It was crazy. We were not expecting a championship."
Dallinger averaged 20.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists at Narrabeen Sports High School, a government-funded co-educational comprehensive and sports-specialist secondary school near the northern coast of Sydney. She had an option of playing semiprofessional basketball in Australia, but she knew women's basketball players who went to junior colleges and Division I schools in the United States, including a few players who played at Miles Community College. That interested her.
Three years prior, she had visited the United States for the first time. Her team won a tournament in Dallas. They won a big trophy. They sat with it on the flight home.
"It was really good exposure to come (to the United States)," Dallinger says. "I was like, 'I want to come here and play.'"
Dallinger watched the Big 12 Conference from afar. She enjoyed watching Brittney Griner. She also enjoyed following several Australian-born players who played at Big 12 schools. She watched Baylor, Texas and Texas Tech.
"My dream was always to play against them," she says. "Now I'm here and it's just crazy how it worked out that way. I'm super excited."
K-State assistant coach Ebony Haliburton brought up Dallinger's name from the community college level. Associate head coach Brian Ostermann knew Miles Community College athletic director Jerry Olson. The entire K-State coaching staff got Dallinger on a Zoom call. She was sold.
"They were one of the main schools who asked to be in contact with my family," Dallinger says. "They were like, 'We want your mom on the calls. We need her to know that we're here for her as well.' They let her know that if she ever needed anything they were there for her. That was a main factor. And these facilities are crazy. I've never seen anything like it. Bramlage is bigger than half of the professional arenas back home. The facilities and coaching staff were really what got me here."
When Dallinger arrived in Manhattan in July, members of the staff and several of her new teammates met her face-to-face for the first time in the basketball facility lobby. They hugged. Then everyone helped her move into her apartment.
"It's such a positive atmosphere," she says.
Her addiction is shooting. She gets excited when she talks about it. She remains somewhat bewildered that there are so many opportunities for her to improve her game under one roof and virtually at any time.
"Everything we need is literally right here — rebounders, the gun, helpers," she says. "It's so much easier to get up extra shots than it was when I was home. Three or four years ago I was never known as a shooter. I realized that I couldn't drive the ball all the time. I said, 'I've got to do something about this. Somebody is going to take my drive away.' I didn't have a really good 3-point shot until I came to college. Going to juco and being able to shoot the way that I did was really good for me.
"I love just having the resources to help me develop my shot and to be more consistent."
When she was 11 and was asked to play basketball, she cried. Now Dallinger arrives as the junior college national player of the year and is armed with a suitcase of abilities and an insatiable desire to further hone her skills as a member of the Wildcats. No doubt, she'll have so many stories to share with her family back home.By any means @emileeebert6 X @RebekahDalling1 pic.twitter.com/tzKtBS9Tg6
— K-State Women's Basketball (@KStateWBB) October 22, 2021
Next Tuesday, she'll jog out of the locker room with her teammates for her first official game in a K-State uniform. The band will play. The fans will cheer. The lights will shine bright. This is just the beginning. There's so much more to go. But for a moment, she might let it all soak in, her path and her climb to this point. Yes, for a moment, she might pause.
She might even shed a tear.
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