The great promise of Finnish basketball, who is being pursued by several American universities, is heading to Ohio State University in the fall of 2024.
Finnish the great promise of basketball Elsa Lemmilä will head to the American basketball courts at Ohio State University next year, says the Basketball Association in its press release. The 197-centimeter Lemmilä, 18, will still play next season in his parent club, Tapiola Honga, and will start playing university basketball in the fall of 2024.
Lemmilä made his adult national team debut when he was only 16 years old.
“It was quite scary to play with top players that I have watched and never imagined playing alongside. It was good to learn and to be in the role of a challenger at times,” said Lemmilä in an interview with Helsingin Sanomat in January 2022.
At that time, Lemmilä said his next big goal was to get to study and play basketball at a university in the United States.
Already more than a year ago, several schools had contacted Honga and the national team coaches and showed interest in Lemmilä. Direct contact with Lemmilä was still prohibited due to the player’s young age.
A pet has already played two seasons in the women’s Korisliiga in Honga. Last season, Lemmilä’s averages were 15.8 points, 10.0 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.5 steals and 2.4 blocks per game. Lemmilä, who played five adult national matches, was chosen as the rookie of the year in his first Korisliiga season.
Throughout its history, Ohio State has been a regular in the NCAA Women’s Basketball National Finals. This spring, the team finished in the top eight in the tournament.