Former Fresno State basketball player Stephanie Rovetti has now captured a bronze medal with the USA women’s rugby team at the 2024 Olympics in Paris. It was an unusual and risky jump for Rovetti as she transitioned from basketball to rugby, but the risk has clearly paid off.
The former Bulldog played for the Bulldogs in the 2014-15 season after she transferred from Brigham Young University. Following her lone year at Fresno State, Rovetti joined the coaching staff at the University of San Diego. A short time later, however, Rovetti decided to leave basketball for something new.
That’s when she shifted her focus to rugby, a sport which she tried briefly when she was at BYU.
The young star kicked off her rugby career with the San Diego Surfers and quickly caught they eyes of some coaches from the national team. After getting invited to residency camp with the Women’s Eagles Sevens, Rovetti made her debut at the USA Women’s Sevens 2018 tournament.
Despite facing several injuries in the years since then, Rovetti is still going strong. The Olympic medalist is proud of the risk she took to play the sport she loves.
“There was a moment where I had to choose between rugby and coaching full-time,” Rovetti said in an interview with the DeseretNews. “It was a really hard moment. Looking back now it’s definitely been worth it, but at the time I didn’t know all that. I knew it was such a big risk, and my basketball coaching career was really important to me at the time, so it was definitely a leap of faith. But following my heart led me here, and now I’m so thankful I chose that for myself.”