Will Carleton Academy senior Clemmie Gadwood prepares to play hoops for Aquinas College
The end of one chapter is closing for the Gadwood family and for Clemmie Gadwood. The Will Carleton Academy senior closed her chapter with the Cougar athletic programs this winter after a record-breaking career. However, the senior does not plan to stop pursuing her basketball dreams. Clemmie has decided to take her talents to Aquinas College, where she signed with the women's basketball team.
The signing day was held in front of an audience of her peers and teachers at Will Carleton Academy. The pep assembly celebrated Clemmie and her accomplishments before she signed her letter of intent to join Aquinas. Will Carleton girls basketball head coach Kennedy Chesney's class all made signs for Clemmie to honor her achievement.
Also in attendance were several teachers who had a major impact on Clemmie's life while attending Will Carleton Academy. P.E. teacher Renee Arnold said that Clemmie has been an excellent role model for WCA and she believes she will continue that role at Aquinas College. "I am super proud of her," said Arnold. "She has a heart of gold and is a role model. She's been a great leader here at this school."
Clemmie Gadwood was joined for the signing by her parents Colleen and Roger Vogt and John and Danni Gadwood. Aquinas women's basketball coach Brian Morris and Clemmie's girls basketball coach Kennedy Chesney were also present for the signing day.
The assembly and signing day marked one of the final pages in the book of Gadwood athletic accomplishments at Will Carleton Academy. Since the early 2000's there has been a Gadwood playing basketball for the Coguars. Clemmie is the last Gadwood to graduate from the school. Colleen Vogt is the school director for Will Carleton Academy and Clemmie's mother. Their family have seen many amazing memories on the court at Will Carleton Academy. While the Vogts anxiously await the August date when Clemmie moves to Aquinas campus, the family is very proud of the choice she made for her college academic studies and athletic pursuits. The connection to the college started early on in the recruiting process, and it continued to be a top choice throughout the journey.
"Aquinas visits Will Carleton Academy every year," said Vogt. "She really connected with their admission counselor, so they had a lot of contact with Clemmie early. As she was exploring her options, coach (Brian) Morris paid a lot of attention to her and answered questions. They were really attentive."
Clemmie visited Aquinas three times before making her final decision. It was clear to Clemmie and her family that this was the right choice to make.
"Our visits have been excellent," said Vogt. "It's a beautiful campus, small and quaint. It really has a great program for pre-med biology and chemistry. It seems like a lovely place."
The pre-med programs were one of the major selling points for Gadwood as she narrowed down her choices between nine colleges; three of those were pursuing Gadwood as a recruit for basketball. However, as talks continued about her potential academic and athletic opportunities at Aquinas, the other schools took a backseat.
"We kept coming back to Aquinas each conversation we had," said Vogt.
The end of her high school career has represented all the hard work put in for her academic studies and on the basketball court. That hard work and resiliency was one of the aspects that got the attention of Aquinas coaches early in their conversations.
"Clementine is very attentional," said Vogt. "She works hard, and she advocates for herself. That has really been a strength for her, and I think that's what attracted Aquinas to her as well."
Clemmie continues a tradition of Gadwoods that have found themselves competing a form of college sports, or coaching. Her siblings Gabe, Jack and Grace all have competed in collegiate athletics. Gabe plays basketball at Lake Superior State. Nick played club soccer at Hillsdale College. Grace played intramural water polo and basketball at Hope College. Jack is a three-sport coach at Harper Creek High School. As the journey comes to an end for Clemmie's parents, they are looking forward to the opportunity of watching Gadwood continue to pursue her athletic goals and her academic studies.
"We are really proud of her, and we are anxious to see how she impacts the world of Aquinas College," said Vogt. "We hope she always remembers the little piece of this County that supports her and is proud of all she's done."
For Gadwood, she believes the transition to Aquinas will have its challenges but the college's commitment to work ethic and character aligns with her own ideals. Those key areas, combined with her relationship with the women's college basketball team, were the final selling points that closed the deal with Aquinas.
"They care a lot about the work ethic and character of individuals and that is something I pride myself on," said Gadwood. "I walked away from my first visit, and it just felt right. The basketball team welcomed me with open arms. Coach Morris has been fabulous through this whole experience."
Clemmie Gadwood plans to focus her studies on pre-med bio and chemistry, with the goal to become a pediatrician. "I want to be a pediatrician, and I am going to work hard every day to learn a lot while at Aquinas," said Gadwood.
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Gadwood said that her older siblings had a major influence on her life. Gadwood had the unique opportunity to play with Gabe in 2021. Low numbers during the Pandemic gave Will Carleton an opportunity for the girls basketball players to play for the boys basketball team that season. Gabe and Clemmie played many minutes of that season on the court together. Clemmie was a regular starter for the team that season. Gabe and the rest of the siblings were a influential in her decision to continue pursuing athletics at the next level.
"They taught me to make sure what you are doing is for you," said Gadwood. "They taught me so much about who I am. They are all great people."
Gadwood expressed her thanks for Will Carleton Academy and the staff and people that are a part of their community. "I was practically raised here,' said Gadwood. "I cannot express my gratitude enough and my appreciation for this community. I just want to say thank you so much."
Gadwood believes her parents were the major driving force behind her morals and work ethic. She thanked them for their commitment to helping her create and pursue the opportunities that led her to eventually sign with Aquinas College.
"Thank you beyond what any words can express," said Gadwood. "They sacrificed so much for me to be able to have the opportunities that I have to be in the place where I am today. They taught me what my morals are and my character. I am the person I am today because of them. They woke up every day and chose to put my siblings and I first and that's all I can ever ask for."
Gadwood leaves behind an impressive list of athletic accomplishments that will stand the test of time and be an inspiration for many Cougar student-athletes in the future. The senior had a record-breaking year for the Cougars. This year, she crossed the 1,000-point milestone for points scored. Gadwood had 1,570 points, a new school record for career points. This was potentially a new school record for career points across boys and girls WCA basketball. She broke the total points record for a single season of basketball. Gadwood also broke the single game points record with 45 points.
In addition to those records, Gadwood tied the record for most 3-pointers in a game with five. She set a new record for 3-pointers in a season with 36. She set a new record for career triples with 98. Gadwood also earned the new record for free throws and two-pointers in a career. She also led her team to a historic season defensively. She helped the Cougars earn a WCA best 35.05 points-per-game allowed. She finished the season with 577 points.
Amongst her accolades was an honorable mention all-state honor, two all-area dream team first team honors, multiple first team all-conference honors and a co-captain honor on the 2022-23 dream team. Gadwood was a member of the National Honors Society, an honor roll student all four years at WCA and she is a five-year member and president of the Community Foundation Youth Board.
Aquinas women's basketball head coach Brian Morris was impressed by the many accolades and accomplishments that Gadwood had in her high school career. However, the seven-year head coach said that it was her work ethic, character and leadership that really sold the team and coaching staff.
"We are excited for her to come into our program and watch her grow over the next four years," said coach Morris.
Aquinas College is a private Roman Catholic liberal arts college in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The college is host to over 2,000 students and is a member of the NAIA collegiate athletics division. The university is a member of the Wolverine–Hoosier Athletic Conference. The university competes in 30 intercollegiate varsity sports.
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This article originally appeared on Hillsdale Daily News: WCA senior Clemmie Gadwood to play basketball for Aquinas College
