ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Two University of Michigan water polo freshmen, Rylee Brower and Isabelle Rocco, attended rival high schools in Naperville, Illlinois, but played on the same club team and took similar paths to becoming Wolverines.
Brower went to Naperville Central and Rocco went to Naperville North, schools separated by fewer than two miles and 35 miles southwest of Chicago. The two battled against each other on the junior varsity teams as high school freshmen, starting a four-year history together.
“We moved up to varsity at the same time, so we were always playing against each other,” said Rocco. “We didn’t like each other early on because we were each other’s competition at rival schools, but junior year we went on a trip to Florida together for a water polo tournament and got to know each other well. We connected and have been close since.”
As they continued to play each other in big games during the high school season, they started playing with each other on a club team and one of their coaches was U-M water polo alum Emily Sejna ’16.
Sejna went to the same high school as Brower, as did fellow 2016 graduate Julia Campbell and current sophomore goalkeeper Sara Campbell. Brower and Rocco heard nothing but positive things about the University of Michigan leading up to their recruiting visits.
“I have gone to school with Sara since elementary school so have known her for a very long time,” said Brower. “Our families know each other and we are from the same neighborhood pool.”
Despite the Naperville ties to the Wolverines program, Brower and Rocco were not on Dr. Marcelo Leonardi‘s radar until a Chicago combine showcase event in 2017. He saw their talent in the pool and afterward began talking to them about coming to the team’s summer camp and taking an official visit in the fall.
Both had heard good things about Michigan and ended up committing after their visits.
Brower had family ties. Her great uncle and cousin graduated from the school, while her father, Scott, grew up in nearby East Lansing, Michigan. On her visit she got along really well with the team, thought highly of the academics and loved the football gameday atmosphere.
“I knew from my first eight hours of being on campus that this is where I wanted to be,” said Brower. “The next weekend I went to my second choice and just knew Michigan was it. I cancelled the rest of my visits.”
Academics was a big factor for Rocco. She comes from a family that puts an emphasis on academics. Her father, Richard, is a professor in the Driehaus College of Business at DePaul University and her brother, Andrew, is pursuing two majors at DePaul and the Illinois Institute of Technology.
“One of the first things that stood out was that Michigan was the No. 1 ranked public school in the country,” said Rocco. “I love the sciences and math, and Michigan offered so many choices.”
As their high school careers started coming to a close, Leonardi approached them with an idea to spend the summer training in California. Sophomore Maddie O’Reilly moved from Pennsylvania to northern California last year and improved her game so Leonardi thought it could benefit Brower and Rocco just as much.
They both agreed and moved out to live with fellow signees Erin Neustrom and Sidney Vranesh and play on the same club team as them. They played through the Junior Olympics, gaining experience against high level players, learning a new system and raising their own game.
“When we sign kids, we take a look at their plan for the summer before they come to Michigan,” said Leonardi. “We made a recommendation to look at playing in California. We supplied them the connections and their family decided to make the move to play at a higher level.”
The benefits were not only skill related. Over the course of six weeks, all four of the freshmen got to know each other and bonded. Once they stepped foot on campus they had already established solid relationships.
The summer was a culmination of parallel journeys Brower and Rocco had from the time they were freshmen rivals to now when they are teammates and friends at the University of Michigan.
Release courtesy University of Michigan Athletics Communications
