Women's basketball powerhouse prepares for 'bittersweet' goodbye to Lakehead

Leashja Grant's path to Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ont. was an unlikely one at best — a stroke of luck for the school, and a second chance for the standout player, who just led the Thunderwolves women's basketball team through one of their best seasons to-date.

Grant, who is now preparing to graduate after two years at the northwestern Ontario university, recently stopped by the CBC Thunder Bay studios, along with Jon Kreiner, head coach of the Lakehead University women's basketball team, to talk about her time with the team, and saying goodbye to Lakehead. 

"It's bittersweet," she said. 

Unlikely beginning 

Grant hails from Nassau, Bahamas. That's where she was in 2016 working at a grocery store, when she first got the call from Lakehead. 

At the time, things weren't going to plan for Grant, who was previously studying and playing at Texas Tech in the U.S. Heading into her senior year, her visa expired. She thought the best course of action would be to return home to renew it, but that renewal was denied, leaving her mid-way through her university career without a school or team to return to. 

"It was a pretty dark moment," she said. 

Meanwhile, through a series of connections, word made its way to Lakehead that Grant might be available.

When the school began courting her, Lakehead and Thunder Bay were complete unknowns for Grant. "I didn't know much about Canada," she said, but she decided to hear them out. 

"My dad was just like, 'just give it a shot,'" and the rest was history.

Adapting to the new team as a senior player wasn't easy, but Grant became an incredible force on the court for the Thunderwolves, which were ranked sixth in the country and fell just short of making the national championship tournament this season. 

She was also named OUA player of the year and a national first team All-Canadian, two years in a row. 

"She completely changed the landscape of the OUA over these last two years, really, is what she's done," said Kreiner. "She raised the bar of basketball in Ontario."

Within her own team, she also grew into an important leadership role, he added.

New beginnings

Although the team will be losing Grant, along with another senior player, Kreiner said the experience younger players on the team have gained over this year has been invaluable, and he's looking forward to building another strong group heading into September. 

"We have a lot of things to figure out, but I'm actually very excited, very confident about it."

As for Grant, she said she's taking things one step at a time. 

"The goal is to graduate and play a couple of years overseas and then start life after that."

Hear Grant's full interview with CBC Thunder Bay's Lisa Laco here.