basketball<\/a> program and that\u2019s where it all started.\u201d<\/p>\n\u201cBasketball-wise, I don\u2019t think I had one specific role model where I said, \u2018I want to be like her when I grow up,\u2019 unfortunately. I wasn\u2019t really exposed to that. But every year I wanted to be better than the girls who were three, four, or five years older than me. I\u2019d watch them and think, \u2018Okay, I want to do a step-back like her. I want to shoot like her. I want to pass like her.\u2019 So throughout my journey, I was always looking two or three steps ahead at the kind of player I wanted to become and that\u2019s where I found my role models.\u201d<\/p>\n
Having an older sister in Lior who is a high-level basketball player is also helpful along the way for Garzon.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it really comes from our family and it\u2019s great that we have each other. We understand what the other is going through. She went to college before I did, so when I moved to the US, she helped me a lot with what to do and how to handle everything. It\u2019s great to have someone who truly understands me and is going through similar experiences that we can share.\u201d<\/p>\n
After starring in high school and local youth leagues in Israel, Garzon was recruited by colleges in the United States and chose to attend Indiana.<\/p>\n
\u201cI arrived at Indiana as an 18-year-old kid who didn\u2019t know much and I grew tremendously. Of course, I developed as a player on the court, but I also developed as a person. Those years between 18 and 21 are really significant because that\u2019s when you learn so much and become an adult. Living away from home was mainly about growing up.\u201d<\/p>\n
After three years at Indiana, Garzon decided to move to Maryland for her last year of eligibility.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt I needed new opportunities, maybe a different system and to test myself in a different environment. I chose Maryland mainly because I wanted to learn from head coach Brenda Frese, who\u2019s known for developing players into impactful professionals. I think I fit in pretty quickly and I connected well with the coaching staff and the players. Unfortunately, we had a lot of ups and downs that season and it didn\u2019t go exactly the way we wanted. There were a lot of injuries and a lot of changes, but that\u2019s part of life.\u201d<\/p>\n
During her four years in college ball, Garzon was fortunate to be able to play in the NCAA Tournament, March Madness in each of her seasons.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think anyone who hasn\u2019t experienced it or been in the American college system can truly understand it. All eyes are on you. It\u2019s the biggest event of the year. It\u2019s broadcast to millions of people. I\u2019m really happy I got to be part of it for four years. The level of organization, the quality of the players, the facilities, you really can\u2019t compare it to anything else.\u201d<\/p>\n
After her senior year at Maryland, Garzon was not selected in the most recent WNBA Draft, which of course was disappointing as she had been highly rated during her time in college.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s really no way to sugarcoat it. It was a huge disappointment because there were high expectations. I was projected in pretty much every mock draft. For a few hours, it was difficult to accept. But I think that\u2019s the beauty of it, every player has their own path. I\u2019ll make it to the WNBA, I\u2019m sure of it. It\u2019ll just happen through a different route.\u201d<\/p>\n
Following the draft, Garzon did sign a rookie contract with the Phoenix Mercury and was able to head to training camp, but at the end of the day it didn\u2019t work out due to an injury and she was released.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a great experience. I started training camp really well and I was getting very, very positive feedback. It looked like things were heading in the right direction. Unfortunately, I got injured during camp, so I wasn\u2019t able to give everything I had or fully prove myself through the end of camp, which was really disappointing. But yes, I believe I\u2019m absolutely at the level of that league. I know I can play there and contribute to teams, and I believe I\u2019ll get there.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn one hand, of course I was disappointed. I wanted to make the WNBA this year. On the other hand, I completely understood their decision because with my injury it was difficult to continue when the season was starting and I couldn\u2019t be on the court. It was especially frustrating because of the injury. They really gave me as much time as they could to try to get back on the court, but injuries are part of every athlete\u2019s career, and you have to deal with them.\u201d
On the bright side, Garzon was recently selected as one of Forbes Israel\u2019s 30 Under 30 which was a real boost for the hoopster.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s very special and it\u2019s encouraging to know that people see me and recognize what I\u2019m doing. I\u2019m really proud to be Israeli wherever I go. It\u2019s a great feeling to receive that recognition. It\u2019s a huge honor, and now I just want to keep working.\u201d
See more Israeli sports coverage at www.sportsrabbi.com\/en<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Yarden Garzon is undoubtedly one of the best Israeli basketball players to emerge in recent years. The 22-year-old,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":545099,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4290,85,46,43,105,164874],"class_list":["post-545098","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-basketball","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-news","tag-sports","tag-womens-basketball"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/545098","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=545098"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/545098\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/545099"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=545098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=545098"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=545098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}