Raquel Carrera, from falling in love with basketball in the schoolyard to seducing the NBA

They are still being identified in Galicia Rachel Quintana (Ourense2001) with that skinny girl recruited in the yard Josephine for him Pavilionhis first federal team, where he perfected his shot for the basket while falling in love with basketball.

Only 21 years was enough for this girl from Ourense to write historical pages in the annals of intercontinental basketball. Since his draft pick WNBA on a bet he made for his projection Valencia Basketballin which she was declared champion Women’s league The Spaniard with the poster of the best player in the final. In La Fonteta, he started with 14 points and 4 rebounds, which he increased on the historic Wurzburg track in Salamanca, up to 20 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists. 28 rating points and 14 ahead of his team with his track.

But let’s go a little bit by part, because if Raquel’s career is still short, it stands out above all for the number of victories that this 1.88-meter-tall twenty-something-year-old has. Returning to the humble pavilion team where he forged his first steps, they could soon see the diamond in their hands, and their next step was to jump into Celta Vigowhere he worked with Carlos Colinas and Cristina Cantero, soon drawing the attention of the aforementioned taronja club, one of the most powerful in the country.

Just before she came of age, the Levantine structure extended her contract for five seasons and sent her to Araski to make her debut with the Victorians in the highest national category. His card in the Spanish first team was already extensive, as he made his debut at the U17 World Cup at the age of just 14, to later add two European U16s (with a gold medal). He also won continental silver in U18, and in U17 he played two more World Championships. In 2021, the moment came to make his debut in the absolute team, and he already participated in the double date of the Eurobasket and the Olympic Games in Tokyo, which were held late due to the pandemic.

Until then, his name was also on the agenda of many of the most prestigious international scouts. It is enough to remember her full April, when at only 19 years old she was decisive in the Eurocup won by Valencia. With a second to go and a one-point lead, the Reyer Venecia players did not hesitate to foul the opponent’s youngest player. Raquel, with full concentration on her face, hit two free throws as more than one teammate pleaded without blinking.

Days later, the woman from Ourense became an object of desire in the NBA league, and the draft for her women’s competition chose her in the fifteenth position. The estimates that awaited her in the third round were inflated and Atlanta Dream gave her confidence for the first round of selection. The following year, the New York Liberty acquired their rights, in exchange for Asia Durr and received Megan Walker, a player who is no longer on the Big Apple’s roster, more interested in a player who gives her a lot of youth. competitive experience. We are also talking about a franchise that other Spanish women like Betty Cebrián, Marina Ferragut and Anna Cruz have already gone through, not forgetting Rebecca Allen, with whom Raquel coincided in L’Alquería.

The Spanish Super Cup and from Europe They are also in the bag of the young Carrera, who in the final of the League once again showed the gene that distinguishes her from other athletes when it comes to trophies. “She came to wait for him and we gave him a ball to have fun. You could already see him in the school yard,” recalls his coach at Josefinas, Rafa Fernández Alonso. In a similar way, María Álvarez, who guided her in her group at the Children’s Pavilion, expresses herself: “From an early age, she was a very hard-working girl because you can have quality, but you have to work. He always had a smile on his face, but he took everything very seriously.

Later, Carlos Colinas continued to train at Celta, where he pointed out: “Raquel is a player we will be able to talk about in ten years. She is called to mark an era if she does not change and if she adapts to the circumstances, she is a player with a huge influence because she has already beaten many records of the game at her age, and that is something to guarantee for an important team.”