Alana Zirlis made the decision to further her athletic career after high school in college, a decision that only about 7% of all high school athletes make, and will be playing Division III basketball at Dean College in Franklin, MA, starting this coming fall.
Zirlis started playing basketball in first grade for Park and Rec and then in third grade joined the Clinton travel basketball team. When she entered middle school, she started to join AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) club teams. She played on the CBA (Connecticut Basketball Association) national and local teams. She has also been a part of the Morgan girls’ basketball team for four seasons, and this season, she serves as one of the three co-captains and is a starter at the #4 position or a power forward.
The local AAU team participated in closer tournaments in New England, and she was a part of the team for about four years before being asked to move up to the National team in her junior year of high school. The national team differed from the local team because it participated in much larger tournaments and went to tournaments in places such as Kentucky, Atlantic City, NJ, and Pennsylvania.
For Zirlis her high school basketball experience and her AAU experience were very different because, “the competition is not as difficult or competitive and in AAU I was playing very difficult teams, and is so much faster paced.”
The CBA team played during the spring, summer, and fall seasons and practiced three times a week in the evenings in Hamden, CT, with tournaments every other weekend. The Morgan girls basketball team plays only during winter, playing about 6 days a week. Games are usually about two to three times a week in the evenings, and practicing the other days.
When Zirlis first started looking at different colleges and universities, she was looking at bigger schools, but then that changed. She decided she wanted to further her basketball career beyond high school this past summer before entering her senior year of high school, which is considered late to many others in the recruiting process.
She hadn’t always wanted to continue playing after high school, but she said, “Playing basketball in the summer, for the AAU team, made me realize how much I really enjoy the sport and how I can’t live without it, and I think watching my brother and also Catie Donadio play in college was a big factor in me wanting to play in college as well.”
Zirlis’s brother plays for the Mitchell College men’s basketball team, and Catie Donadio plays on the Connecticut College Women’s basketball team, both being Morgan alumni.
“The hardest part about this whole process was just knowing what exactly I wanted to do and where I wanted to be, Said Zirlis. She knew she wanted to play at a school with a Division III women’s basketball program in comparison to an intramural or a club program because to her making the team relationships with the other players and coaching staff was very important. She said, “My favorite part about being on a team is working as a team and playing with other girls, and making friendships that carry through outside of basketball as well.”
The recruiting process for Zirlis started by putting her name into the NCAA website. Then from there, her name got out to different coaches, and she would be notified when they looked at her profile and some would even reach out to her via email. She started looking deeply into different women’s basketball programs and would fill out recruiting forms as well as make a highlight reel that her dad helped her create. From there she sent her information to three schools, the University of Hartford, Johnson and Wales, and Dean College, but Dean got back to her right away. Zirlis said, “The [Dean] coach definitely seemed most interested in me, and invited me on overnights at the school and had me come on tours with her, and was a lot more interactive than the other schools.”
Other than the coach, what sold the school for her was it had a physical therapy program, which is her intended career, and an opportunity for her to play basketball as well.
Zirlis said, “I always wanted to work with athletes and help people”. So when she was offered a job at Westbrook Physical Therapy, she took the opportunity and now works as an aide, helping patients, and doing chores.
In the 2023-2024 basketball season, the Morgan Huskies went 16-7, making it to the Shoreline Championship against East Hampton and also making the state tournament, losing the first round. There were six seniors, four of which greatly contributed, five juniors, a sophomore, and two freshmen on the varsity team. With this said, playing time was minimal for the majority of the bench.
While she had success in the end, it did not come without struggle. “One of the hardest things was dealing with mental struggles in high school basketball and having to wait my turn and waiting for the chance to actually show myself and prove myself to others,” Zirlis said.
Zirlis is excited to continue her basketball career for another four years and is happy she found a place she is comfortable with that suits her and where she can grow and further her academic career as well.
