By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
Leblond senior and All State guard Tatum Studer saw much success in her time with the Golden Eagles, and will now look ahead to her college career.
Studer signed her national letter of intent on Friday afternoon to continue playing basketball as a member of the University of Saint Mary Spires
Studer says she's excited to sign with the Spires.
"It's been exciting and it's been a really long and tiring journey," Studer tells reporters. "But, just to say I have it done is everything."
While it was a long and tiring process, Studer says it was the coaching staff that drew her to Saint Mary's.
"It feels like home and after that state game I knew I wasn't ready to give up basketball and so I really wanted to further my athletic journey and Saint Mary's was the place to do it," Studer says.
Leblond Head Coach Jackie Steltenpohl says she's excited to see Studer get this opportunity.
"I'm just so proud of how hard Tatum's worked with basketball and even just all her sports she's definitely a great athlete," Steltenpohl says. "I think just having her at Leblond has changed our program tremendously."
"Just really happy to see that she was able to pick basketball as her sport to move on to college. "
Studer's career at Leblond was filled with milestones on and off the court. She scored 1,206 career points, earning All MEC Conference first team honors, was a Class 2 District 16 All District player and Co-Player of the year, and was also Class 2 first team all-state. She was also named the 2023 St. Joseph Female Scholar Athlete of the Year.
Studer was also a key contributor to big 2023 basketball season for the Golden Eagles. Leblond made the Final Four for the first time since 1984, were state runners up, and finished the season 28-4.
Steltenpohl says it's hard to say just one thing that Leblond will miss from having Studer on the court.
"Her fire, her energy, there's always just that on the court and off the court even," Steltenpohl says. "So, just how hard she works, her mentality towards the game, her IQ is just so high so I think that helped her teammates grow in their IQs as well."
"But there's just too many things that I can't pinpoint because she just has all of them, she's an all-around stud."
Studer marks the third college commit from Leblond this year, which Steltenpohl says is exciting not just for the students but for the school.
"That we can and are capable of producing college athletes, we had two basketball and one soccer, and I think that we can continue to have that come from Leblond," Steltenpohl says. "It's just amazing that those girls are able to step up to the challenge and stay committed to the sport that they love."
