As the final buzzer sounded on Illinois’ historic 22-win season in March, junior forward Gretchen Dolan watched the ending from the bench. Now, after months spent recovering from an injured knee, Dolan is ready to help a reloaded Illini roster make its way back to the heights they reached last season and more.
“I’m just super excited to be back on the court with my teammates,” Dolan said. “It was a long process and not a smooth sailing journey either, but I’m grateful that I went through that, and I’ve been kind of looking at it as a blessing in disguise. I was able to see the game from a different view, which I think has helped me.”
Season cut short
Going into her sophomore year in 2024, a breakout season seemed likely for Dolan. She appeared in 31 of the team’s 34 games during her freshman year. Dolan started to take on the role as the first player off the bench for the Illini. She was also the first Illini freshman since 2017 to earn a spot on the Big Ten All-Freshman team.
Sadly, after only playing eight games as a sophomore, Dolan was ruled out for the remainder of the year with a season-ending knee injury on Jan. 8. Through that short stretch of games, Dolan averaged 10.5 points and 2.6 rebounds per game. She also improved her field-goal and three-point percentages from her freshman year, shooting 43.7% and 35.5%, respectively. Losing Dolan was a huge blow for the Illini in terms of three-point shooting and size on the perimeter.
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Luckily for Illinois, it was able to overcome Dolan’s injury and the others it sustained to still find postseason success. For the first time since 2003, the Illini made an appearance in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Illinois even secured a win against No. 9 seed Creighton, 66-57. Although it ultimately fell to No. 5 seed Texas in the second round, Illinois exceeded expectations for postseason success. Even from the sidelines, Dolan celebrated her team’s accomplishments.
“What I saw from them was just a lot of faith,” Dolan said in response to the Illini playing shorthanded last season. “When a few of us went down, nobody wavered, and nobody changed our goals for what we had in the season. I was just so proud of them and to see them come in every day and work the way that they had been, regardless of who was out on the floor or not.”
Process of patience
For athletes coming back from season-ending injuries, the rehabilitation process isn’t always smooth sailing. This was true for Dolan. While her recovery process wasn’t linear, she is grateful for the journey she had and is excited to be back this season.
“There were a few bumps in the road and times that I wasn’t feeling great,” Dolan said. “I give a lot of credit to our athletic trainer and our coaches for keeping me in great spirits and giving me confidence.”
Through Dolan’s recovery, she learned the importance of patience. She knew she needed to be patient with her body after the injury, but it was still difficult not to rush the recovery process. That patience paid dividends in the end, though, now that Dolan has the chance to help her team rack up wins from the court and not the sidelines.
“When you’re injured and you’re going through a recovery process, you have a mindset of where you want to be instead of where you actually are,” Dolan said. “I think being present is super huge in that and just letting your body heal and letting it take that time.”
A unique aspect of Dolan’s recovery is that she didn’t have to go through it alone. Her teammate, redshirt sophomore center Lety Vasconcelos, underwent rehab for a torn ACL she sustained during summer workouts in 2024, alongside Dolan. Vasconcelos is ready to make her return in 2025 as well.
“Just seeing what she’s been through since last year, it’s been just so exciting for us to see her back on the court,” Dolan said. “She’s been doing so well, taking in every day and getting better. So, we’re all just so excited to watch her play.”
Being an asset
The team that Dolan is returning to this season looks very different from the one she watched from the bench last year. From the experience level to skill sets, there is much to find out from this new look Illini roster as the season gets underway. Head coach Shauna Green said this is what makes Illinois dangerous.
“It’s like our year one,” Green said. “You don’t really know what you’re going to get, right? Shoot, I don’t even know yet … we can throw some different combos and go really big, be really long. We could throw really five people out there that are essentially guards, but tall.”
Even amongst the unknowns, Dolan’s skill set is a guaranteed asset to Green’s rotation. At 5-foot-11, Dolan is a taller and longer perimeter player. Dolan should see more time played in the guard positions this season, with more true bigs available than solely graduated forward Kendall Bostic. Green said with Dolan’s dynamic three-level scoring and defensive improvements, it’s her time to take control of this team alongside sophomore forward Berry Wallace.
“With Gretchen and Berry and really all our wings, they’re versatile and they’re bigger, they’re strong,” Green said. “We can post them up … Gretchen is obviously an elite three-point shooter, but she’s so strong and she’s so good at using her body, whether it’s in the mid-range or at the rim.”
Learning a new role
From the first day of practice during the summer, Dolan and Wallace were put into a new leadership role that last year’s five graduating seniors left for them. It’s been an adjustment, but Dolan said it’s been fun for each person on the team to find their voice.
“There’s just been a lot of little things that maybe the seniors did do, and you’re like ‘Oh, who’s going to do that now,’” Dolan said. “But, everyone has stepped up in a great way, and like I said, it is a process, but we’re getting there every day.”
In terms of leadership, Green acknowledged that Dolan and Wallace lead through understanding the standards and expectations of Illinois’ program. Whether that is bringing the team together in huddles or building relationships with each teammate, both Dolan and Wallace took on the challenge of leadership from the jump. Since the summer, the team chemistry built off the court was crucial to the Illini learning how to play with one another on it. That started with Dolan and Wallace.
“Off the court, we’re not there in the locker room,” Green said. “I don’t know everything that’s going on, but I know that they will believe in what we’re doing and they’re loyal to our standards and our expectations and they’re helping those (younger) guys along.”
