ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Laura Granada first picked up a basketball at the age of 11 in her native Spain.
Granada, who played tennis in her younger days, immediately took a liking to the sport because of the team aspect it provided.
In fact, Granada enjoyed the sport so much that she left her home in Jaca, a city of about 14,000 in northeastern Spain, to move to Valencia to play for a club team during her final two years of high school.
Following high school, Granada spent two seasons at Riverland Community College in Austin, Minn., before transferring to Roberts Wesleyan University where she is a senior forward on the women's basketball team.
Granada, a Cross Disciplinary Studies major who carries a 3.81 grade-point average, scored a career-high 10 points in Saturday's game at Daemen University and has been named the Roberts Wesleyan University Female Scholar-Athlete of the Month for January.
Granada is averaging 2.2 points per game this season and has been honored as a National Christian College Athletic Association Scholar-Athlete and selected to the East Coast Conference Commissioner's Honor Roll.
She manages the women's basketball team's Instagram account and is interested in pursuing a career in Sports Management or Marketing.
Granada is exploring her options for graduate school in both Spain and the United Kingdom. She also plans to play flag football as a tight end and linebacker for the Redhawks during their inaugural season this spring.
Granada took a few moments to share her thoughts on being a student-athlete at Roberts. Responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
What did you like about basketball when you started playing?
"I liked everything. I like team sports because before basketball, I played tennis for about seven years maybe. I like that it's a team sport and it's different than tennis, for example, where it is just you out there on the court."
How did it work when you decided that you wanted to play college basketball in the United States?
"A lot of my friends were going to the United States and that made me think that could be an opportunity for me, so I went to a basketball agency and they helped me through the whole process."
You will be playing a second sport this spring – flag football – how did that decision come about?
"Last semester we were talking about how there was going to be be a new flag football team, and one of my teammates (
Cristina Gonzalez-Simarro Rubio) said that we should do it and here we are."
What have you thought of the flag football so far?
"It's the beginning, so we're starting, but I think it looks pretty good.
What do you like most about Roberts?
"I like that it's like a small community, it's not one of those big schools. I also feel like people are really friendly here."
What does it mean to major in Cross Disciplinary Studies?
"Basically, you create your own major from a minor and two areas of study. The minor I am doing is Sports Management and Marketing. One area of study is Psychology and the other is Education."
Have you had a favorite course or professor during your time at Roberts?
"Not really. I have liked every course and every professor is different in their own way."
Has it been hard for you being so far away from home?
"It wasn't that hard because like back in Spain, I moved Valencia for my last two years of high school. Technically, I have been away from home since I was 15 years old. It's not that hard at this point, but at the beginning it was."
