Playing for a traditional New York power like Ursuline, just making the team means credibility and respect around the school. Opportunities at a program of this type, built on discipline and college-ready talent, do not come without sustained relentlessness in the grind.
For Class of 2023 prospect Victoria Ross-Blumenauer, success has come quicker than usual this hothouse girls basketball proving ground.
The sophomore, who is flanked by one of the best players in the country in Notre Dame bound senior Sonia Cintron, has improved incrementally following a tremendous summer polishing up all components of her game.
Possessing athleticism, Ross-Blumenauer is adept at picking apart a defense and bettering those around her. She’s still working on her IQ and concepts such as timing, learning the intricacies of the true point guard role.
This will bode well for her moving forward, as her instinctive point guard style will facilitate a number of different scoring weapons at the disposal of longtime Ursuline head coach Beth Wooters.
“She’s a super skilled guard with tremendous speed and quickness and she’s really got that ball on a string with her yo-yo handle,” said Aldo Redendo, the reputable East Coast trainer who has been instrumental in pushing Ross-Blumenauer’s development this summer.
“She made Ursuline’s varsity as a freshman which is very rare in its own. She’s improved drastically over the last few months. She’s really athletic and we are still working on her with IQ and getting better in that compartment of her game.”
Covid and the limitations it evoked in New York state did nothing to dampen the competitive spirit of Ross-Blumenauer, who averaged 10 points, four assists, and two steals playing for the NY Hoopers on the AAU circuit this summer.
She spent time polishing up her handle and adding to her all around skill set. Her knack for facilitating was on display at the East Coast Fall Championships in Spooky Nook, Pa. She finished fourth in the entire event in overall assists.
“She really knows how to read a defense and kick in that fireball assist,” Redendo, widely regarded as the top trainer in the area and the head honcho for 25 years at the New York Pride AAU program.
“She’s never played age appropriate, she’s always played up. Defensively, she’s an on ball pest and with her athleticism she’s able to pick off passes and guard multiple positions. She has a tremendous future ahead of her and the work ethic she showed this summer is going to benefit her down the road.”
Having made the honor roll every semester at the prestigious academic school, Ross-Blumenauer has the potential to attract high academic colleges.
With the summer she’s had and granted there will be a season in some capacity in 2021, Ross-Blumenauer has an intriguing future ahead.
