NERR Girls Spotlight - Olivia Gourdine
Barnstable High School rising junior Olivia Gourdine if the first female prospect to be featured on the NERR-TV Virtual Showcase.
Recruitment officially began for Olivia on June 15th, the first day college coaches were permitted to have direct contact with players in the class of 2022, and instantly brought attention from several staffs in both the Northeast-10 and the NESCAC.
While she's only at the midpoint of her high school career, Gourdine has already distinguished herself both on the floor and in the classroom with college coaches taking early note.
She's also proven to be a trend-setter, pursuing the NERR platform and leading other female prospects across the region to do the same.
By the Numbers
Academics: 3.81 GPA (4.32 weighted GPA)
2019-20 Stats: 14pts (team high), 62% FT, 29 made threes
Top Performances
- Career-high 25 points in win at New Bedford
- 23 points in win at Nantucket
- 18 points in win against New Bedford
- 18 points in win at Marshfield
- 18 points in win at Sandwich
- 17 points in win against Dennis-Yarmouth
Awards & Accolades
- Boston Herald pre-season "Player to Watch"
- Boston Globe "Player of the Week" for the week of January 8th-14th
- First Team All-Cape & Islands League
- Selected to play in 33rd Annual Cape & Islands High School All-Star Game
Personal Statement
As a sophomore, I was the starting small forward for a 14-6 Barnstable High School team that, for the first time in over a decade, hosted a state tournament game in the Division 1 South Sectional. As I begin this process, my initial objective is learning which level of play is currently most appropriate for me. However, I want coaches and college programs to understand that the player I am today is nowhere near the player I intend to be by the time I graduate and step foot on a college campus. I'm laser-focused on improving my shooting, ball-handling, conditioning, and basketball IQ and love every minute of the development process!
I pride myself on being a very coachable player and strive to represent my school and family both on and off the court. Playing college basketball has been a dream of mine since a young age. I've been determined to not allow this pandemic to impact my dreams and feel that my consistent training during this unique period of time has allowed me to progress relative to my peers.
My hope is that coaches and college programs will value my academic achievement as much as my value as a basketball player. I want to be a part of a program that has as much passion for academics as it does for basketball. I'm open to all levels of play and am very excited to start this next chapter of my life. I hope to make my parents and my family proud and become a role model and leader at the highest level of competition possible!
Recommendations
"I have had the absolute pleasure of working with Olivia Gourdine the past two years at Barnstable High School. Olivia is a tremendous young player with a high basketball IQ. She is a tireless worker and ALWAYS leads by example on and off the court. Olivia was our leading scorer this year as a sophomore, this was due to her work in the off season to develop her game and add a deadly outside shot to her arsenal. However, that has not stopped her from working even harder this off season so far. I am so excited to watch Olivia grow over the next two years and help take our program to the next level."
- Ross Jatkola, Head Coach, Barnstable High School
"Olivia has more 'horsepower' than any player I've encountered in the girls game. At 5-foot-9 and 150 pounds, Olivia is like a freight-train attacking downhill in transition — her blend of speed, explosiveness, and positional size is highly unique. These attributes, combined with dedicated practice, also allow her to shoot the ball from well beyond the three-point line without sacrificing form. Olivia jumped from 4 made three-pointers as a freshman to 29 of them as a sophomore while also improving her free-throw shooting by over 20 percentage points. She's already taken several additional steps forward this off-season in terms of improving her shooting, ball-handling, and fitness levels. Even the slightest of improvements in Olivia's shooting efficiency and ball-handling ability during her junior year will catapult her from an all-league caliber player to an all-scholastic. Factor in a 4.32 weighted GPA and it's clear to me that many colleges coaches at the highest levels will want her to be a part of their programs!"
- Ben Vaneria, Trainer, Swish Cape Code
Video Highlights