STELLAR ATHLETE HEART

RANA ELHUSSEINI SHINES ON THE COURT AND IN THE CLASSROOM.

ABOVE ALL, SHE CARES FOR OTHERS.

By Craig Butler

“Aside from her basketball abilities, her best attribute to our team is how much she cares for people. She has gone above and beyond to make sure people within the community and on our team are cared for. That is a real rarity to see. I am beyond grateful that she is a very special part of our Fighting Scot family.”

That’s how head coach Callie Wheeler characterized her accomplished third-year guard, Rana Elhusseini, a player who has distinguished herself on the court, in the classroom and perhaps most notably in community service.

Elhusseini set her sights on a college basketball scholarship early in her high school career in Dearborn, Mich. Through perseverance and hard work, Elhusseini worked her way into the top 100 girls’ basketball players in the state of Michigan. She set the Fordson High School record for points with 1,603 as well as records for freethrow percentage and assists.

It was only a matter of time before Elhusseini was being recruited by Division I and II schools.

“I was getting recruited by Wayne State and Oakland at the Division I level,” Elhusseini said “Oakland had over-recruited guards in the class of 2019, but their assistant coach at the time, Andrea Williams, saw an opportunity to help me.”

Williams, an Edinboro alum, put Elhusseini in touch with Coach Wheeler and, after a visit and meeting the team, it was obvious this was the right fit.

From the start, Elhusseini established herself as a leader at Edinboro, not just on the court, but off it as well. She has been an exemplary student with a 3.67 GPA as an exercise science major, earning Edinboro and PSAC Scholar-Athlete honors all three years on campus.

Elhusseini was named First-Team All-PSAC West this season after being the PSAC West Freshman of the Year in 2019-20. She was also the Scots leading scorer, averaging 12.5 points, 4.1 assists and 4.0 rebounds per game.

Even with all that she has accomplished on the court, she has continued to look for ways to make an impact both at Edinboro and back home in Michigan.

At Edinboro, Elhusseini spearheaded a food drive during the COVID-19 shutdown that yielded over 1,000 pounds of food. She has volunteered as a counselor at the Edinboro Girls’ Basketball Camp and it continued a drive to host her own camp in her hometown.

“In high school, my coach hosted a camp my junior year, and it had a great turnout. I was really moved by the girls that I saw and the potential that was there,” Elhusseini said. “I made it an emphasis that as soon as I had the opportunity to host a camp, I would.”

With the approval of the NCAA’s Name, Image and Likeness Policy, that opportunity presented itself sooner than expected.

“I started planning a camp at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, but it was not approved,” she said. “So, I had to wait another year for things to get better.”

In July of 2021, Elhusseini hosted her first girls’ basketball camp. In running the camp, she chose to fundraise for her community rather than compensate herself.

“When I decided to fundraise for the community, I had to sit down and really evaluate my community. I knew that there would be families who could afford the camp and those who could not. I really wanted this camp to mean something beyond the dollar bill,” she said.

Elhusseini looks at the opportunity to make an impact beyond donating money toward T-shirts, camp tuition and the game of basketball.

“I never had a female athlete in my life who guided me or inspired me growing up. I never had anyone to tell me that I could play college basketball. SHE (female athlete role model) was never in my vision where when I struggled, I could look and say because SHE did, I COULD,” Elhusseini said. “I want them to know that if a little Arab-American Muslim girl could make it, then they can, too. It is a lot bigger than the game of basketball.”

For all her efforts, Elhusseini was honored with the Dr. Joseph Laythe Award for her leadership and commitment to fostering a respectful campus environment.

“My journey here just opened my eyes up to the fact that I not only am able to inspire the young Arab-American girls back home but also the small community of girls here,” she said. “I always thought that my ethnicity and religion is what made me relatable to the girls, but I now realize that it’s my heart − not only for the game, but for other people.”