‘I miss playing’: Hooptown Hall of Famer Angie Bjorklund, among the best ever from Spokane, adjusts to life as a coach

When she had spent three decades playing a game she loves, it was hard to walk away.

That’s the situation Angie Bjorklund found herself in a year ago when she retired from a second stint in professional basketball.

Bjorklund fondly remembers her early days, playing in the backyard at 5 years old with her dad and her sister. It seems like she’s always had a basketball in her hands.

And the early beginnings involved playing in Hoopfest.

But too many injuries to count have taken a toll on Bjorklund’s body. So there the former University High and Tennessee standout was last year, counting the cost.

It was and wasn’t an easy decision to finally retire.

“Last year, I hurt my knee. It wasn’t an ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) injury,” Bjorklund said. “My body was breaking down after 30 years of playing. It was time.

“Of course, I miss playing this year. I’ve grieved a lot. It’s a transition, an identity transition into more of a coach. Basketball will always be part of my life, for sure.”

She wanted to leave on her terms, not coasting at half speed like she said many her age do late in their careers.

Bjorklund, who turns 36 next month, will be inducted into the Hooptown USA Hall of Fame in a ceremony Wednesday. She regrets that she won’t be at the event.

She was notified of her induction a month after making plans to fly from her home in San Sebastian, Spain, to visit family last month. She recorded a video. Her sister, Jami (Bjorklund) Schaefer, will be at the ceremony.

“It’s such an honor; it’s really special coming from my hometown,” Bjorklund said. “I’m really thankful for Spokane and where I came from – the great players, my sister, my coaches. That was an age I fell in love with the game. I played in Hoopfest up until middle school. Some of my best memories every summer were Hoopfest.”

She may be the best female player to come out of Spokane. Her former coaches say it’s not open for debate.

“No -brainer. She’s the best to play in the (Greater Spokane League),” her former U-Hi coach, Mark Stinson, said. “Her skill level was off the charts and that was at a time when every team in the GSL seemed to have one or two (NCAA) Division I girls. The level of competition in the city was amazing.”

Spokane Stars director and coach Ron Adams saw it up close, too.

“She’s the best player I’ve ever coached in 45 years,” Adams said. “Part of it is because of her basketball IQ and her practice regime and workouts. She’s the only player I’ve coached that didn’t have a weakness in her game.”

No wonder the best schools in the nation recruited Bjorklund, who took visits to UConn, Tennessee and Duke.

A 6-foot guard, Bjorklund chose Tennessee, her dream destination.

She had immediate success in Knoxville, Tennessee. She became just the 10th freshman to start for the Volunteers. She earned a starting job on a team that was coming off an NCAA championship and returning five senior starters.

Tennessee pulled off a national repeat.

“To come in and win a national championship was like no other experience,” Bjorklund said. “Playing for (coach) Pat Summitt was my dream. Pat had an incredible balance of being very intense on the court but super caring and mom-like off the court.”

The national title was Summitt’s eighth and final championship. She retired in 2012 with a record of 1,098-208 – then a record for wins. The record was eclipsed twice in the past two years by Tara Van Derveer at Stanford and Geno Auriemma at UConn.

Summit died in 2016 from complications from early onset of Alzheimer’s-type dementia.

The Tennessee coach made it a point to schedule a game in or near every player’s hometown. Bjorklund was the only player Summitt signed from Washington.

Summitt called then-Gonzaga coach Kelly Graves to schedule a game at McCarthey Athletic Center. Graves was all for it for many reasons, not the least of which was pairing up sisters. Angie’s sister played four years for Graves.

When Tennessee visited Gonzaga on Dec. 30, 2008, it was a bittersweet reunion for the Bjorklund sisters. Jami injured a knee the week before and didn’t play. Angie scored a game-high 14 points, leading the eighth-ranked Volunteers to a 77-58 win before the first registered sellout at McCarthey Athletic Center.

Many in the crowd wore T-shirts with ‘TennZaga’ printed on them.

“I always wanted to play here,” Angie told the media following the game.

The sisters’ parents had Angie and her team over for dinner. Since the game was in December, Bjorklund’s teammates experienced wintry weather.

“It was snowing and some of the girls had never been around snow in their life,” Bjorklund said.

“She was very intense, no excuses, you find a way,” Bjorklund said of Summitt. “That’s one of the things she taught me the most.”

Bjorklund was a naturally intense player. Heather Bowman, the former Lewis and Clark High and Gonzaga star, joins Bjorklund in the 2025 Hooptown class. Bowman saw Bjorklund’s intensity up close as an opponent and four years as a teammate with the Spokane Stars.

“I enjoyed playing with her more than playing against her,” Bowman said. “I remember playing against her in high school in a game and I told her, ‘Would you just chill out, calm down?’ She was just so tough to stop.”

Bjorklund praises her father, Jim, grandfather Duane Ranniger and uncle Steve Ranniger for having major influences in her early years.

“The most impactful coaches during my early years have to be my family,” she said. “They helped me develop as a player – to understand the X’s and O’s and game strategy within a team.”

She had specific praise for her uncle, who assisted Adams with the Stars.

“How he coached and broke down the game so well was a building block I needed before Tennessee,” she said.

Bjorklund cherishes her time at U-Hi. She led the Titans to the state championship game against rival LC, winning 39-34 .

“I am still great friends with all my teammates and they’re some of my best friends to this day,” Bjorklund said. “(Coach) Mark Stinson created a great team atmosphere and was a good mentor.”

A four-year starter at both U-Hi and Tennessee, Bjorklund scored 2,103 points for the Titans, averaging 25 points and 10 rebounds as a senior.

“She was one of the hardest workers in any sport I’ve been around,” Stinson said. “Angie had a great shot. She had a little fade like the great players had.

“She could go up in the air and stay up longer than most girls. There wasn’t any tension in her game, and when the moment was big she thrived in it.”

Bjorklund also was a standout in the classroom, graduating from U-Hi with a 3.99 grade-point average.

Stinson appreciated Bjorklund’s contributions off the court as much as anything athletically.

“Her basketball ability was off the charts, but her as a human being, making sure everybody was family, making sure everybody was included and making sure everybody felt part of something … she had a special heart,” Stinson said.

Space won’t allow detailing the numerous injuries Bjorklund overcame. She chalked them up to overuse.

Bjorklund also dealt with back problems.

“I was obsessed with the process of getting better and working hard. I overdid it at times,” Bjorklund said. “But you learn a lot of good life skills going through injuries. Now I know how to take care of my back forever.”

She was selected in the second round, the 17th pick, by the Chicago Sky in the 2011 WNBA draft. She played just seven games before continuing her professional career overseas for nine years.

Among other notable feats for Bjorklund were being named a McDonald’s All-American (2007), winning a gold medal for the U.S. on the FIBA Under-19 World Cup (2007) and being named to the SEC All-Freshman Team (2008) and the SEC Freshman of the Year. She also was an All-SEC first-team pick (2010).

Bjorklund made a school-record career 305 3-pointers at Tennessee, finishing with 1,469 career points.

Her playing career may be over, but Bjorklund continues to make a living in the sport.

She does three skills camps each week involving 80 youth ages 9 to 15. She has incorporated much of what she’s learned throughout her career – from NBC camps to playing for Summitt – in what she teaches youth.

She lives in one of the most beautiful areas in the world on the coast in Spain. She has no idea where her life will take her in the coming years, and she’s learned not to spend any time thinking about it.

Bjorklund is grateful for the doors basketball has opened for her.

“I have no idea what the future holds,” she said. “Every time I create a plan in my head, it never works out. So I’m just taking life one day at a time.

“Basketball has impacted me the most with the relationships that I’ve built. My family, my teammates, playing with my sister growing up, to high school, college and playing around the world. The people that basketball has brought into my life have had the biggest impact on me.”