Sam Breen knew she had to be at The Pavilion at Star Lake.
After all, Big Time Rush — the once popular boy band that is now touring with new music for the first time since splitting up in 2013 — was performing Wednesday night at the Burgettstown music venue.
“I couldn’t not go,” said Breen, a Richland native and 2017 North Catholic graduate, who is fresh off a record-shattering career with the University of Massachusetts women’s basketball team.
“It was so worth it,” she added, fighting through a voice still hoarse from the concert. “It might not seem like it, but it was.”
As it turned out, it was Breen’s second “Big Time Rush” of the week.
Finland’s Vimpelin Veto Koripallo of the Korisliiga professional women’s league announced it had agreed to a contract with Breen Monday, making the two-time defending Atlantic 10 Player of the Year the first international signing of its offseason.
Breen said she is slated to make the more than 4,200-mile move from Pittsburgh to Finland to begin her professional career in September.
“It’s a very safe country, a happy country,” she said. “It’s a pretty good league for your first year. All that put together, it just seemed like a really good fit. I didn’t want to miss out on that opportunity.”
For Mike Leflar, who was named head coach of the UMass women’s basketball team after former coach Tory Verdi left to lead Pitt’s women’s program in April, Vimpelin Veto is getting a highly skilled, refined professional in his former player.
Leflar was Breen’s position coach for the past five seasons.
“I think Sam can play for as long as she wants to and as long as her body holds up,” Leflar said. “She takes great pride in conditioning. Obviously, I think her game will translate to the pro level just because she’s so skilled and can play multiple positions and, obviously, can score the basketball.”
Breen did a lot of that in her six-year career at UMass. She left the program as its all-time leading scorer with 1,930 points and ranks second in school history with 1,101 rebounds.
A 6-foot-1 guard/forward, Breen was also named the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year after averaging 17.3 points, 10.1 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game in 2022-23. She was the only Division I player in the country to average at least 17 points, 10 rebounds and three assists this past season.
“Being the best player is one thing, but being the hardest worker is another, and that she was every single day,” Leflar said.
Vimpelin Veto finished 8-10 last season, which was good for seventh in the Korisliiga standings.
Leflar said Breen will have an immediate impact on her new team.
“I think she’s in a league that’s really going to showcase her skills,” he said. “I think she’s going to be able to play really free and, again, impact the game in so many ways. I think she may be growing and getting better and better.”
Breen was one of 18 players selected to take part in the United States’ 3×3 Women’s National Team trial in Colorado Springs, Colo., which ran from May 12-18.
Although she wasn’t selected to be part of the team, Breen said the experience was valuable as she prepares to play professionally.
“It was really cool,” she said. “I got to see new places, meet a lot of new people. The three-on-three game is so different than five-on-five, so that was really cool to learn and experience.”
Despite not yet traveling to Finland, Breen said she is becoming acquainted with her new franchise. She said she has spoken with her new coaches in addition to a member of the team’s media relations staff.
“I know my agent said usually Americans going over to Europe are looked at to score, and he can see me playing a few different positions,” said Breen of her agent, Eric Wiesel, who brokered her first professional contract. “I guess we’ll see once we get there. I’m definitely working on ball handling in case I play a little bit more guard than just forward. It’ll be fun. It’ll just be different.”
Breen said she is also looking forward to serving as somewhat of an ambassador for UMass and WPIAL basketball abroad.
“I really like to travel, so getting paid to travel and play the sport that I love is a win-win for me,” she said.
Leflar is expecting big things from his former player as well.
“We are thrilled as an athletic department, as a university that she is going to keep playing and represent us,” Leflar said. “I couldn’t be happier for her. I couldn’t be prouder of her.”
John is a copy editor and page designer at the Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at jsanta@unionprogress.com.