After four years of volleyball, Marist’s Mary Clare Brusek plays basketball for Western Michigan. ‘Why not?’

The stats for Western Michigan’s Mary Clare Brusek against Loyola were underwhelming. She played two minutes, split a pair of free throws and picked up a rebound on Dec. 7 in a 58-45 win.

Big deal?

It sure was. It was the first time Brusek had played competitive basketball since her senior season at Marist in 2022.

“My family was there and it was awesome,” Brusek said. “I got fouled with in the first minute of the game, so I went to the free throw line right away.

“I went 1-for-2, so I got my first point in my first game. That was pretty awesome.”

The next game, Brusek scored 14 points against Valparaiso.

After enjoying a successful four-year volleyball career at Western Michigan, she heard there was a need for a few more players on the women’s basketball team, so she decided to give it a whirl.

She had only two days of practice before making her debut against Loyola.

“When I was called into the game, obviously, my heart dropped to my stomach,” Brusek said. “I said, ‘I hope my body remembers how to run up and down the court.’”

And the performance against Valparaiso?

“I just went out on the court and my body knew what to do before my brain did,” she said. “It was just like a second instinct.”

Through her first 15 games, Brusek is averaging 2.4 points and 2.3 rebounds. She’s having fun extending her career as a college athlete.

“My mindset was, ‘Why not?’” she said. “The team was hurting for players and I knew that I had the capability to do it. The opportunity was there and I said that I might as well take it.”

At Marist, she was strong in both sports.

Girls volleyball coach Jordan Vidovic and Mary Pat Connolly, who was the girls basketball coach at that time, put their heads together to let her maximize her experience for the RedHawks.

“She was very committed,” Vidovic said of Brusek. “We really worked together and got on the same page on what her best way to go through the year and go through the two seasons.

“We wanted her to be fully committed to both and still manage outside sports whether it be a travel team or her out-of-school training. She really wanted to keep her options open at the next level.”

Both coaches tried to get Brusek to rest a little but that wasn’t always heeded.

“We would be coming back from a state tournament and celebrating and she would go to a basketball practice that same day,” Vidovic said of Brusek. “We’re like, ‘MC, you’re not going to go to practice today, are you?’ And she said, ‘Oh, yeah, I am.’

“That’s how she was. She’s an athlete. She didn’t want to take major breaks.”

Vidovic admired how Brusek could go into basketball after missing four years and not miss a beat.

“What a cool way to close out her college career after she had so much success in volleyball at Western Michigan,” Vidovic said. “When I heard she was doing this, it wasn’t any surprise at all.

“But it’s crazy to think that you can just jump on a Division I basketball team after not playing so long. I was pumped to hear that she gets another taste of a season and another taste of sports and competition, which she loves so much.”

Brusek confirmed the conditioning aspect was something she struggled with at first, but she’s in a good place now.

“The first day was a little bit rough for me,” she said. “It was like a whirlwind. I was learning so many things in one day. By the end of my first week, I was getting more comfortable and my skills were coming back a lot.

“It was like riding a bike.”

Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.