Like most children, a “Little Tikes” basketball hoop was an early toy for Leena Patibandla.
It was a small step forward physically for the Canton, Ohio, native. Mentally, it was enormous.
The hoop, and subsequent time spent playing the NBA2K video games, sparked a love for the sport that’s seen Patibandla become a trailblazer as part of the University of Wisconsin women’s basketball team. What started out as shooting on a miniature hoop has led the freshman to become what is believed to be the first Indian-American born player to play NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) women's basketball.
“It’s not something I think about when I’m actively playing, but it’s definitely something to be proud of off on the court,” Patibandla said. “I’m happy I can represent my community.” s big as that community is — over 4.6 million Indians were living in the United States in 2019 according to a 2021 article by the Pew Research Center — basketball is far from the culture’s most popular sport. Compared to the likes of cricket, kabbadi or tennis, basketball doesn’t carry much weight in the Indian community.
'She's a 1-of-1': Historic Wisconsin women's basketball freshman breaking barriers, stereotypes
Leena Patibandla took on basketball at a young age, initially playing on a "Little Tikes" basketball hoop and later picking up a controller and playing the NBA2K video game series.
Like most children, a “Little Tikes” basketball hoop was an early toy for Leena Patibandla.
It was a small step forward physically for the Canton, Ohio, native. Mentally, it was enormous.
The hoop, and subsequent time spent playing the NBA2K video games, sparked a love for the sport that’s seen Patibandla become a trailblazer as part of the University of Wisconsin women’s basketball team. What started out as shooting on a miniature hoop has led the freshman to become what is believed to be the first Indian-American born player to play NCAA women's basketball.
“It’s not something I think about when I’m actively playing, but it’s definitely something to be proud of off on the court,” Patibandla said. “I’m happy I can represent my community.”
As big as that community is — over 4.6 million Indians were living in the United States in 2019 according to a 2021 article by the Pew Research Center — basketball is far from the culture’s most popular sport. Compared to the likes of cricket, kabbadi or tennis, basketball doesn’t carry much weight in the Indian community
Vani Patibandla, Leena’s mother, vividly remembers the younger of her two daughters — older sister Divya is a senior at Ohio State — frantically trying to learn a crossover and an in-and-out out dribble before her first clinic.
“We would be waiting for the bus and she would be doing those moves,” Vani said. “She just took to that and by the end of the week she mastered it. That’s how it started.”
It continued with Vani dictating what moves she wanted Patibandla to attempt as the two went on walks.
it and it’s just come really natural for her in that sense,” Vani said.
What makes Leena Patibandla unique
It was also natural for Patibandla to try to learn as much as she could off the court. Vani said Patibandla would constantly be watching old highlight videos of former players. Whether that was Michael Jordan, Julius Erving, Vince Carter or her favorite, Kyrie Irving, Patibandla constantly tried to absorb as much information as she could.
It was then Vani said she “knew she was really into it,” only affirmed later when Patibandla couldn’t take her eyes off a high school game while in fifth grade.
“I was like, ‘Leena, are you sure this is what you want to do? Is this what you want to sign up for?’ I think that’s where most Indians would have shied away from the physical contact, she fit in better with that,” Vani said. It was a desire that others quickly got excited about, too. Patibandla was a four-year varsity player for Massillon Jackson High School coach Anthony Butch, who knew of her well before she put on a Polar Bears uniform.
“She came through our youth program as a second or third grader, and anytime you saw her, even at a very young age, your eye was immediately drawn to her,” Butch said. “The potential was there at a very young age.”
Patibandla also starred on the track and volleyball court. She finished with a second-best 289 kills her senior year, helping Jackson to a 26-2 record and an OHSAA Division 1 regional final appearance.
In track, she ended her senior year with a runner-up finish in the Division 1 girls discus with a throw of 142 feet, 10 inches. Meanwhile, she averaged 13.8 points in 19 games her senior basketball season, scoring in double figures 14 times, including 20 or more points three times, helping Jackson reach the OHSAA Division 1 district finals.
Patibandla attributes that success across all three sports to her ever-present athletic build.
The 6-foot guard has incredibly big hands that anchor a 6-6 wingspan, while she wears a size 14 men’s basketball shoe. She used that to confirm Butch’s suspicions as to how special of an athlete she could be when Patibandla dunked a tennis ball during her sophomore or junior season, Butch said.
“I was like ‘Whoa,’” Butch recalled. “I knew she could get up and kind of play around touching the rim, but when she got up and did that I was like, ‘I’ve never seen a girl touch the backboard, let alone dunk a tennis ball.’”
“She’s a one-of-one.”
Culture remains key to Leena Patibandla’s success
That sentiment was largely true when Patibandla played. She rarely saw other Indian players during high school games and AAU tournaments. It’s what made proving the old adage that ‘you can’t judge a book by its cover’ so sweet.
The Badgers have been excited to see her continue to defy people's misconceptions, and learn more about the glass ceiling-shattering guard. While she remains the lone Indian-American player in Power Five, Patibandla has been embraced by her teammates while continuing to celebrate her culture.
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