“She’s got a great attitude, she gives a great effort, she’s got an incredible work ethic and she’s unconditionally committed, not just to basketball,” Keene State Women’s Basketball Coach Keith Boucher said. “She’s a very good student, she’s a very good person.”
First-year Brynn Rautiola achieved a lot during her first season as an Owl including being named the Little East Conference Rookie (LEC) of the Year and the New England Basketball Association (NEWBA) Rookie of the Year.
However, Rautiola said she is not playing basketball for the accolades.
“Honors are great, but I just play because I love the game,” Rautiola said. “I have so much passion so it’s really because I love it and I don’t play for an award to validate me, I’m just playing.”
Rautiola has been chasing her passion for basketball since she was five years old.
“In the driveway, with my dad, I would pick up a ball and we would play for hours on end,” Rautiola said. “My high school experience was the point where I realized I want to continue this in college and my high school coach really encouraged me and we worked really hard to be able to get me to a point where I can play in college.”
Rautiola first made her mark in basketball during high school as she appeared in the New Hampshire Basketball State Championships all four years of high school, was the 2023 New Hampshire DIII Player of the Year and made the New Hampshire All-State Selection and All-Defensive Team Selection twice.
Boucher said he saw the potential in Rautiola since her first year of high school.
“One of my former assistants was coaching her high school’s team and I told him after the game, “As long as you get her for the next four years, you’re going to be pretty successful,”’ Boucher said.
Likewise, Assistant Coach Kevin Justice said he knew Rautiola was capable of succeeding at Keene State since he began coaching her in the summer of 2023.
“Seeing her work habits and real passion for basketball and for being the best she could possibly be, it was echoed when we actually got to start working with her in a coaching capacity,” Justice said. “She was pretty much willing to do anything we asked of her. And that’s kind of refreshing nowadays to meet an athlete where you can coach them a little bit and coach them pretty hard.”
Since being at Keene State, Rautiola said she has grown tremendously with her confidence.
“My confidence has bloomed from the start and just going into every game confident and with a strong mentality,” Rautiola said.
“It doesn’t matter if I’m a freshman or not, I can come out and I can make an impact and I think that’s really bloomed.”
In order to push herself as an athlete, Rautiola has also worked hard to overcome mental obstacles.
“All the doubt the outsiders have on you, you have to put it to the side and focus on you and just prove them wrong,” Rautiola said. “That’s the biggest thing you have to overcome, just knowing that it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks of you.”
As she continues playing as an Owl, Rautiola said she can see herself taking on more of a leadership role in the future.
“That’s an aspect I need to develop more but that’s definitely going to come in the next three years that I’m here,” Rautiola said.
According to Rautiola, she is an athletic person even outside the court.
I like being outdoors, just doing all activities outside, doesn’t matter what it could be,” Rautiola said.
However, Rautiola could not imagine a world without her playing basketball in it.
“My whole life revolves around basketball,” Rautiola said.
Boucher said Rautiola has grown to develop all the qualities a successful athlete should have.
“There’s the unconditional commitment, you do whatever you have to do, no matter how long it takes, to get whatever you need done to the best of your ability,” Boucher said. “And Brynn checks all those boxes.”
Boucher added, “It takes the hammer of persistence to drive the nail of success and that is one thing that Brynn is, she is very persistent,” Boucher said. “It’s a solitary endeavor; Not many people want to go in the gym and shoot, I’ve seen her in there a lot on her own shooting… Self-discipline is the ability to make yourself do what you should do and when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not.”
Nicole Dumont can be contacted at
ndumont@kscequinox.com
