Game over?

Graduating athletes’ next steps toward a professional career

Amara Brooks / Sports Editor / The USD Vista

As the spring semester comes to a close and commencement inches closer, graduating senior athletes begin to reflect on their time playing at USD. From the last game in the Jenny Craig Pavilion (JCP) to the final whistle at Torero Stadium, many Toreros are hanging up their USD jerseys for the last time. While the end of the semester marks the end of an era in their athletic career, for three athletes, this is only the beginning, as they go on to play their sport at the professional level. 

Grace Frohling has competed with the women’s volleyball team since her freshman year in 2019. Awarded All-West Coast Conference (WCC) Freshman of the Year, the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Pacific South Region Freshman of the Year award and first team All-WCC honors all four years as a Torero, Frohling has been a dominant player on the team since she joined. In her first year, she finished with 264 kills and 2.61 kills per set after appearing in 28 matches and finished second on the team with 324.0 total points. 

“My first year here was pretty successful, and I didn’t know if we would ever top that,” Frohling stated. “I came in by myself, which was kind of weird, but by hanging with the older girls it helped me assimilate and build up my confidence which was good.”

The women’s volleyball team was more than successful after Frohling’s first year on the team. Last season, the team won the WCC National Volleyball Championships. 

Frohling, along with two other teammates, was selected in the 2023 Athletes Unlimited Volleyball College Draft. The three were among the draft’s six total picks, making them the most from any college program in the country. Frohling was the draft’s second overall pick. 

Ready for the next chapter, Frohling will head to Germany at the end of the summer to play professionally with a top team overseas. With the help of an agent who communicated with numerous teams and coaches on her behalf, she will start this next chapter with Dresdner SC in August and is guaranteed to compete until the season ends in May. 

Playing overseas is a path many athletes often take after their collegiate career, according to The Athletic playing overseas often pays 10 times more than what athletes would receive if they decided to stay and play in the U.S. Similarly, Kiera Oakry is looking to make a move and hopes to continue playing basketball with a team abroad. 

Oakry has been a guard for the women’s basketball team since her first year at USD in 2018. Ever since she was young, Oakry always had a love and drive for the sport. 

“I have been playing since I was five,” Oakry explained.“I started playing with my dad, and I played with one of my older sisters. Once I got to high school, my dad was like ‘this is out of my league,’ so he decided to research some of the best club basketball teams in San Diego, and we came across one that fed into a great highschool.”

Through her time at La Jolla Country Day School, Oakry played for a coach who mentored and helped shape her basketball experience. 

“I love her,” Oakry stated. “She’s honestly one of my biggest mentors and one of the greatest people I’ve ever met, and she really helped showcase me and my talent.”

Oakry remembers USD showing their dedication to her as a player very early on. She shared that USD coaches would attend her club and highschool games, as one of the three women’s basketball coaches were always in attendance.   

“USD has been watching me since sixth grade, and they’ve been watching me progress all of these years, and I don’t know if you can get better dedication than that in college… To be honest I do not think they’ve missed any one of my club games, even after I committed to USD.”

Oakry had an impressive final season, finishing as the program’s leading scorer and was named All-WCC Second Team. 

She shared that her time in the sport is not over yet and — after recently signing with an agency — she plans to accomplish her goal of playing abroad. 

“I just signed with an agency called Dagger Basketball. They’re an agency to help players to be able to play overseas,” Oakry explained. “So that’s my initial goal. I want to first play abroad somewhere in Europe for a few years, ‘cause I don’t think I’m done playing. It’s been a part of my life since I was coordinated. So I don’t think I’m ready to give it up just yet.” 

While for many athletes the goal is to leave the States and play overseas, for others the goal is a lot closer to home. 

Hunter Nichols began playing football when he was six. Growing up with a father who also played the sport, football was always present in Nichols’ life. Coming into his first season with the Toreros, Nichols came in as a corner but was quickly switched to the safety position. 

“It took me a long time to learn that position, because that position is a lot different from what I was used to,” Nichols explained. “You have to know a little bit more but once I got it down I felt like I was pretty good.”

Nichols started his first year on the practice squad but quickly realized the importance of showing up to practice every day like it’s game day. By putting in more hours on and off the field and opportunities arising through a few injuries from older players, Nichols quickly became a starter. 

“I still wanted to show I was good, because I still have s*** to prove,” Nichols stated. “They would give me the cards during practice to tell me what I’m doing, and I’m like ‘no I’m trying to make a play.’”

Many of his offensive teammates wanted him to stick with the cards, as the goal was to only showcase the skills of offensive players. But by showing out and putting his all in every drill, coaches began to notice and reward his determined work ethic. 

“It did help out in the future, cause when one of the guys got hurt, the offensive coaches were like ‘oh this is the guy you need to bring up.’”

Deciding to register as a 2023 NFL Draft Prospect, Nichols began preparing for a possible future in the NFL. In between registering for the draft and Draft Day, Nichols obtained an agent and continued training for Pro Day. Pro Days are important for NFL prospects, as they allow prospects to conduct drills, performance tests and interface with NFL evaluators. 

“’I’m very eager and anxious to find out what’s coming next,” Nichols stated. “Just playing the waiting game now that my Pro Day has passed. I’m waiting, just hoping I get that call.”

On the third day of the NFL Draft, Nichols announced that he will be heading to mini camp with the Seattle Seahawks. 

For many athletes, graduating college means saying goodbye to a sport that has been an integral part of their lives. According to the NCAA, fewer than 2% of NCAA student-athletes will go on to play at the professional level. With the help and support of their coaches, teammates and fans, three Toreros will begin the next stage in their athletic career.