QND’s Schreacke verbally commits to play basketball at Mizzou

QUINCY — Abbey Schreacke figured Wednesday’s trip to Columbia, Mo., for an official visit with the University of Missouri women’s basketball program might end with giving Tigers coach Robin Pingeton a verbal commitment.

“I was thinking about it a lot and just waiting for the right moment,” Schreacke said.

It came when she learned her parents were on board with her decision.

“I kept looking at them and saying, ‘Do you like it? Because I like it,’” Schreacke said. “And they were like, ‘We like it, too.’”

That made it a done deal.

The Quincy Notre Dame senior all-stater committed to the Tigers before needing to hustle home to play in the Raiders’ volleyball match against Rushville-Industry on Wednesday night at The Pit. She is the second QND girls basketball program export to land at Mizzou in the last decade, joining 2013 graduate Jordan Frericks.

“When I met the team and all the coaches, they felt like my kind of person,” Schreacke said. “Their style of play, everything we talked about, it feels like I would just be a good fit.”

That could have been the case at a variety of schools.

A number of quality NCAA Division II and mid-major programs — from Drury to Drake — recruited Schreacke for the better part of the last two years. But schools from the Power 5 conferences showed growing interest over the past year.

Schreacke, a 6-foot guard, led QND to the Class 2A state championship last winter, averaging  26.2 points, 8.7 rebounds and 3.2 assists. She was a first-team all-state selection by both the Associated Press and the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association and was the leading vote-getter on the AP all-state team.

The Champaign News-Gazette named her the Player of the Year for its all-state team.

That drew added interest from college coaches.

“When those Power 5 schools started reaching out, it was kind of like, ‘OK, I can do this,’” said Schreacke, who also had offers from Illinois State University, DePaul and South Dakota State. “I still kept in mind those other schools because they had great culture and great atmosphere. As I continued on, I started to see I could push myself to the big stage.”

Mizzou became one of her biggest suitors.

“I was just trying to find what felt right,” Schreacke said. “As we kept the process going on, they kept getting more interested and I kept getting more interested. So, yeah, it evolved that way.”

It immediately puts her on the game’s biggest stage.

The Southeastern Conference has produced two national champions and two national runners-up in the last six years, including 2022 national champion South Carolina.

“It will definitely be a battle, too,” Schreacke said. “That’s something that makes it an even better experience, especially with this team. That’s what they talk about. They say it’s going to war together.”

The Tigers went 18-13 last season and 7-9 in the SEC, rebounding from back-to-back nine-win seasons. In 2019, Mizzou went 24-11 and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers have four NCAA Tournament appearances and nine total postseason bids in Pingeton’s 12 seasons at the helm.

She gave Schreacke some sound advice on how to prepare for the college game.

“She was telling me just the pace of the game and the physicality is on a whole different level,” Schreacke said. “That’s definitely something I need to work on, and the same with defense. She said offensively I have the skill set, but on defense, the whole team and every individual is trying to work to get better.”

With the recruiting saga over, Schreacke can relax, enjoy her senior year and work on her game so she’s ready when it’s time to head to Mizzou.

“It’s a lot less stressful and it’s a relief,” Schreacke said. “I’m just ready to get in the weight room and get it going now.”