Add Illinois and New York to the list of provinces & states that have welcomed graduates of the Lo-Ellen Park Knights Prep basketball program to their post-secondary institutions.

Despite only being launched in 2018 and completing still only a handful of seasons of play within the Ontario Scholastic Basketball Association (OSBA), the south end crew have already found their way into rosters right across the OUA (Ontario University Athletics) – and beyond.

Despite an officially short stay within the OSBA (thanks to the global pandemic), Syla Swords leveraged the teachings from folks involved with Lo-Ellen Prep to a successful stint with the LuHi Crusaders high-school team (Brookville, New York) before rapidly making waves with the Michigan Wolverines of the NCAA.

Now you can throw the Western Illinois Leathernecks (Sidney Skrobot) and the Binghampton Bearcats (Kaitlyn McMillan) into the mix as well, with both Lo-Ellen seniors recently signing their National Letter of Intent to pursue their basketball careers south of the border.

Neither of the 6’1” athletes, however, necessarily saw this coming as they both found their way in the world of competitive sports years ago.

“I did gymnastics for three or four years,” said Skrobot, the eldest of two children in the family (her little brother, Noah, has garnered attention in both football and basketball as well). “I thought I was going to the Olympics - but my body could not take that.”

Luckily, some parental background in the hardcourt sport and an encouraging introduction at MacLeod Public School would eventually lead Skrobot to the club basketball scene – where she discovered she had a whole lot to learn.

“I remember when I couldn’t dribble with my left hand, up and down the court,” said the 17 year-old with a laugh. “But I really liked the competitive aspect.”

And nothing was going to slow her down.

“Covid hit, but I continued with basketball because I really liked playing it,” said Skrobot. “I was doing dribbling Zoom calls with Georges (Seresse – former Sudbury Five product), which really helped my development. I knew through all that time that I wanted to play on Lo-Ellen Prep.”

For as much as there were challenges, looking back, Skrobot wouldn’t have it any other way.

“It was a whole other level of basketball, but it really excited me,” she confessed. “In our first game, Summer Bostock (then at Kings Christian College – now with the Maryland Terrapins) stuffed the crap out of me and that was kind of my “welcome to the OSBA” moment.”

“That year really pushed me.”

Venturing out more and more to the wings, most notably during her summers with the Kia Nurse Basketball Academy, Skrobot was making up for lost time, from a recruitment standpoint.

“I was really late,” she said. “I needed to start emailing people if I wanted to go to the States. In March (2024), I put together a highlight reel and emailed about 25 schools that had the academics I was interested in.”

“That was a non-negotiable.”

Skrobot is entering the Kinesiology program in Macomb (Illinois), attending a Western Illinois University campus that is located almost mid-point between Chicago and St Louis.

“I just want to keep improving, as a person, as a player.”

A native of Waterloo, Kaitlyn McMillan also just needed a chance.

Covid had already kiboshed her grade nine year in the K-W region when she got all of two games into her sophomore season before tearing her ACL. Surgeries would come in February and April (of 2022), with a full year of rehab required.

Thankfully, Lo-Ellen coach Jennifer Bourget saw something in the 18 year-old former soccer sensation who stands almost exactly the same height as Skrobot but plays a game that bears little resemblance.

“I am different than Sidney – she is more dynamic,” said McMillan. “I am more of a 4/5, a high post. But I am working on my outside game while working on my post moves.”

If her skill set has morphed over time, her competitive instincts have not. Bumps in the road only served to increase her determination, her resolve. “When I was injured, on the bench watching games, I would have killed to be on the court,” said McMillan.

“I remember in my first game back, I was on the floor on a jump ball right from the opening whistle. I was so ready for that.”

In committing to the Binghampton University Bearcats (America East), McMillan believes she has found the right fit. “The level of compete is where I can see myself,” she said. “I wanted to find a coach who will support me and challenge me at the same time. Everything about Binghampton checked all of the boxes on my visit.”

And for the Lo-Ellen Prep basketball program, add another checkmark to the ever-growing list of teenagers who have vaulted from the Knights to the next level in the sport.