I am delighted to learn that Ashleen Bracey will be coaching the UIC women’s basketball team. Although Ashleen had an outstanding career as a basketball player, many folks may not know that she was also a stellar softball player. I know this because, during 1999, I had the honor and pleasure of coaching her when she led our youth softball team to the village championship.
For me as a coach, Ashleen was a once-in-a-lifetime ballplayer. She was a model teammate, a clutch hitter with tremendous opposite field power, lightning-quick lateral speed, an infallible glove, and unerringly threw the ball as if launched by a cannon.
UIC and all of Chicagoland are lucky to have Ashleen Bracey coaching the UIC Flames. As head coach of the Flames, she has come full circle. Our youth baseball team was the Oak Park Fire.
Jim Poznak
Oak Park
