Going into the 2024-2025 season, the Queen's Gaels were losing four of their five starters, including two-time OUA All-Star Laura Donovan in the backcourt and First Team All-Canadian Julia Chadwick in the frontcourt. Needless to say, a lot of opportunity opened up for others on the roster to earn big minutes and become the new core that the next generation of Gaels would be built around. Through that season they had improvements from veterans on the roster stepping into bigger roles, and a big emergence of a rookie point guard by the name of Brooke Hussey.
The late start
Hussey's basketball journey started like most, when she was young playing in elementary school, but when it came to serious team competition, she played hockey from the age of seven until she got into high school. After COVID took her Grade 9 year away, she didn't get a taste of team basketball until Grade 10 when she joined her first team, the South Toronto Golden Eagles. Still playing hockey alongside basketball for that Grade 10 year, basketball slowly took over her desire for sport, and the Etobicoke native started putting more and more time into the game.
Brooke went to Father John Redmond for her Grade 11 year, a member of the OSBA and got her first taste of that level of competitive basketball. "It was pretty much my whole life in grade 11," Hussey told OB.SESSED. "I went to prep school but I spent all my time in the gym trying to get better, otherwise there was no chance I was going to compete at that level,"
After one year playing at the OSBA level, Brooke was recruited by Fort Erie, a prep school close to Buffalo where she'd play her grade 12 year. "It was a big change from Grade 11. A lot of those girls [at Fort Erie] were [NCAA] division one bound international players. There was a lot of talent over there and I was still new to the sport despite playing prep for a year, I was still figuring it out."
Spending a year in a place where she could really focus in on basketball really helped her development. For a player trying to soak in as much about basketball in a short period of time compared to those around her, getting a year with the level of talent that Fort Erie had really let her focus on her role and develop by learning from everyone around her.
Finding a fit in Kingston
With two years of prep experience, Brooke now had to decide where she was going to take her journey. Brooke's recruiting ended in her commitment to the Queen's Gaels, but it started with doors open and several different possibilities. Talking with schools like Ottawa and York, and lower D1 schools in the NCAA, her desires along with what she felt like was best for where she was at both in sport and academically led her to the Queen's Gaels.
With only one year playing AAU between grade 11 and grade 12, and two years of prep, Brooke didn't feel like she was prepared for the NCAA route. When American schools like Dartmouth showed interest but wanted Brooke to stay for a fifth year of high school, she felt like she didn't want to delay her start to university and that put her focus on staying in Canada.
When it came to location, Brooke focused herself on schools outside of the GTA — but not too far out — and when she met with Queen's, the combination of her consistent desire for academics and the feel of the team made the Gaels her choice.
A Golden Gael
"I found the transition to be difficult at first but once I became familiar with it, it got a lot easier," said Hussey on her quick transition to the OUA. "Claire [Meadows] is a phenomenal coach and did a really good job of teaching me how to fit into the systems that we were creating."
Transitioning to the OUA and the next level of varsity basketball can be difficult for anyone, let alone someone entering the season at such a young age. Adjusting to the different style of play and playing against older athletes is something Brooke says made her transition more difficult. That tough transition would only become more difficult during the season as the injury bug hit the team.
On Jan. 10, 2025, the Gaels travelled to Sudbury to take on the Laurentian Voyageurs and with a roster cut down to just nine players due to injury, it would be Brooke's first game as a starter. 10 games into her OUA career, Brooke was put into the starting lineup and was never taken out for the rest of the season.
Brooke viewed it as "a time to step up" and she did. She recorded double-digit points in her first seven games as a starter and three or more assists in five of her first six games starting.
Working towards the next
Working throughout high school to ensure she was ready for the next level. Making sure she was ready to step up when needed during her rookie year at Queen's. Hussey has always done whatever she could to prepare herself as best as possible for the next opportunity, and in the summer of 2025 that came in the form of participation in summer leagues.
First it was Off The Grid (OTG) 3x3 where Hussey played with Gaels teammates and was recognized by Nakissa Koomalsingh, the founder and CEO of HoopQueens Summer League. From there it branched into a spot on the roster of Team Charge in the HoopQueens Summer League, and a month of basketball against some of the top talent, and with a future teammate.
Brooke was placed on the same team as her now-teammate Kiyara Letlow which she said will help when they're going to be playing together during the OUA season. Letlow, the AUS all-time career rebounds record holder, transferred to Queen's in the offseason after four standout seasons at Cape Breton.
Individually, the summer spent playing in HoopQueens gave Brooke a broad perspective of playing alongside players in a pro league who have similar aspirations. "One of the things I definitely gained from playing in [HoopQueens] is playing with older players, players with more experience, players who have similar goals and aspirations," said Hussey.
"Eventually I do want to play pro in Europe so this is a great start and a great opportunity to play with and learn from players who have maybe already taken on that path."
The long term destination is playing professionally, but the short term for Brooke is doing whatever she can to help the Queen's program. Training in Kingston for the summer of 2025 is Brooke's plan and the goal is to develop as much as she can so when the reigning OUA Rookie of the Year takes the floor again she will be totally focused and ready to improve on her great start to her OUA career.