Rachel Clancy brings the luck of the Irish

She has played for the Republic of Ireland National basketball team since age 13, captained the national team at the U-16, U-18 and U-20 levels and received Basketball Ireland’s National Under-20 Player of the Year award two seasons in a row (2004-2005 and 2005-2006).

Now redshirt sophomore Rachel Clancy, 20, is playing in her initial season for Cal Poly after transferring from Duquesne University in 2007. She sat out last season due to NCAA regulation rules regarding her transfer but this hasn’t stopped her from competing in every game for the Mustangs this season.

It might seem unorthodox to play college ball after playing for a national team, but Clancy says she needed to come to the U.S. in order to continue to improve her basketball skills.

“I wanted to continue playing basketball at the highest level possible,” she says. “I had already reached the highest level (of basketball) in Ireland so to continue to get better, I needed to come to the States.”

Clancy originally looked at three U.S. universities, including Cal Poly, but chose Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Penn.

Feeling isolated in a dorm room and never leaving the Duquesne campus, Clancy says she re-evaluated her situation and decided to take another look at what the Mustangs had to offer.

“(In San Luis Obispo) I live in an apartment and I’m off campus and I do much more than I ever did at Duquesne,” Clancy says. “I have a much more well-rounded life. The all-around experience I would get at Cal Poly drew me to the West Coast rather than keep me back at Duquesne.”

Other factors also played into Clancy’s decision to move across the country. Though she averaged 8.6 minutes per game as a true freshman at Duquesne and played in all but one match, the team finished 7-20 overall. Then the head coach resigned and three assistant coaches left. Clancy says she felt it wasn’t the same team she had joined and didn’t think she had any loyalties tying her to the team.

When she arrived at Cal Poly, Clancy found many differences between the two schools besides being able to get out more. She enjoys the success of the Mustangs (9-6, 2-2), but says it’s more than that.

“As a team, (Cal Poly) is much more tightly knit,” Clancy says. “I get on very well with all the girls and the coaching staff. At Duquesne, the relationship with the coaches was kind of formal, but here we can talk to them about whatever we want.They’re just another friend.”

Clancy says she actually puts her academics before her sports and wants to get her MBA after she graduates from college. An honors student and biology major at Cal Poly, Clancy transfers her intelligence to the basketball court as well.

“She is very intelligent on the court and rarely makes any mistakes,” Mimnaugh says. “She’s also a great teammate.”

Working hard at school in addition to sports is nothing new for Clancy who is known as a top science student in Ireland. Mustangs head coach Faith Mimnaugh was actually alerted to Clancy’s potential by Cal Poly President Warren Baker. Mimnaugh says he was excited to recruit a student of “that caliber.”

Clancy also uses her wide range of experience playing for the Republic of Ireland National Team to help the Mustangs, who reached the semifinals of the Big West Conference Tournament last year for only the second time in program history.

“She’s got loads of experience internationally,” Mimnaugh says of Clancy who has played against teams such as Switzerland, Poland, and Iceland.

“A lot of students in America have only played against Americans so they have a limited view, a limited style of play because of their exposure. She’s been exposed to every type of system universally and she does a tremendous job helping us solidify our game.”

Clancy, whose family has always been big on sports, started playing basketball when she was 7 to copy her older brother. The Clancy clan had just moved to Canada following Rachel’s father’s job transfer.

Once Clancy was back in Ireland, she joined as many teams as possible. If she was too young to be on a team, Clancy would still practice with them and she tried to surround herself with people she believed could better her.

She played basketball and soccer up until her last year of high school when she dropped soccer because she didn’t have enough time. Clancy says she simply loves to play basketball and that’s what drives her to work hard to improve her skills.

“I put loads and loads of time into it and at the end I got rewarded,” Clancy says. “I’m pretty good but I practice hard for it.”

Currently, Clancy is second on the Mustangs’ roster for three-point field goal percentage at .500 (11-for-22) and tied for second in field goal percentage at .509 (28-for-55).

Clancy’s academic prowess may be even more intimidating than her shooting acumen. As a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, she was selected for the University Presidential Inaugural Conference program where she attended President Barack Obama’s inauguration on Jan. 20.

“It was such a fantastic trip,” Clancy wrote in a blog about her trip. “I met so many nice people, as well, and I really can’t believe that I was actually there. I’ve been watching a lot of things on television about Obama since then and am more interested than I ever thought I would have been.”

As for life after Cal Poly, Clancy wants to include both basketball and school, but school will come first.

“I’m hoping to pursue an MBA so I’d let that dictate where I’m going to be and hopefully add on basketball to that,” Clancy says. “I don’t really know right now, but I don’t plan to stop playing basketball right when I graduate.”