By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – The text from DePaul women’s basketball coach Jill Pizzotti started with the line “You’re not going to believe this,” which was cryptic enough to get Jorie Allen’s immediate attention. The conversation that followed was equally surprising, surreal and sensationally intriguing.
Allen was being invited to a tryout for Team USA, a chance to wear the American flag for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. That’s every athlete’s ultimate dream, there’s no higher honor. But there was a caveat. The call had not come from the women’s basketball committee. That would be the most obvious assumption, as Allen had just completed an outstanding final season with the Blue Demons, earning All-Big East honors.
In fact, there was no way to guess which sport was interested in Allen. Equestrian? Table tennis? Water polo? Those left-field picks are not any wilder than the real deal.
Rugby. It turns out the scouts for the Olympic team had kept a close watch on Allen’s hoop progress. Their job is recruiting athletes from other sports – basketball, track, soccer – and converting their skill set into potential rugby players. On June 9, Allen will fly to San Diego to participate in a crossover camp for 20 invitees, with a chance to work toward a spot on the 2028 Olympic squad.
Does Allen have any rugby experience? Obviously not, unless playing the interior in the brutal world of Big East basketball counts. She watched the U.S. earn a rugby bronze medal in 2024 during the Paris Olympics. That’s about all the exposure she’s had. But that doesn’t matter.
“They told me to show up strong and fast,” Allen said with a laugh. “That’s what I’ll do. They wanted me because I had no experience. I had to purchase my first-ever pair of cleats, because I had never worn any. But they want capable athletes to teach them their game, their way.
“I don’t know much about the sport itself, but it’s entertaining. I’ve always been a physical basketball player, so it can make sense. They need size. If someone had told me this a couple of years ago, I would have been ‘you’re crazy.’ I’m excited for the challenge.”
The first stage of the tryout will be 48 hours of speed and strength tests. She could invited back to another tryout, or immediately put under contract, stay in San Diego and train, joining a B team pool of people that will be used to select the team for 2028.
For anyone unfamiliar with rugby, it’s basically tackle football – without pads. The object is to “ground” the oval-shaped ball behind the opponent’s line, called the in-goal area. Rugby, with 15 players on each team, is played both with the ball in hand and by kicking it. When the ball is carried, it can only be thrown or handed off backward. It requires a great level of grit, toughness and speed to compete. Allen learned all those skills during her seasons at DePaul.
“The Big East is such a tough conference, and my position as an undersized power forward, I made my money beating on people, sealing in the post, setting screens,” she said. “We played a lot of Power 5 schools, where everyone was bigger than me, and I had to use my strength to gain an edge. So basketball has prepared me for the physicality.”
Basketball has always been Allen’s life. She was Indiana’s Miss Basketball in 2019 after setting Bedford North Lawrence’s career scoring record. After a brief stint at Indiana, she transferred to DePaul, where she was indeed a Demon. She was named Most Improved in 2024-25 while leading the Big East in scoring. DePaul finished 13-19.
“It was a fun season,” Allen said. “As a team, ultimately I wanted to win games. But it was fun and a good way to go out.”
Allen considered playing professionally in Europe, following her sister Jenna on that path. But that passion fire wasn’t a flame, more of an ember. Then came the craziest call ever. Her response was “Let’s hear what they have to say.”
“I have to try,” she said. “I love being an athlete. Playing basketball overseas, in my gut, I didn’t have that ‘I have to do that’ feeling. So this is another opportunity to be an athlete and stay in the United States.”
Rugby is gaining a foothold. The Women’s Elite Rugby professional league launched in 2025 with six teams (San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, Denver, New York and the Twin Cities). Members of the 2024 Olympic team are still competing, and the U.S. squad will earn an automatic berth in the ‘28 Games as the host nation.
Allen has already received her masters degree in creative writing and publishing. What a story she will have to tell, if she can clinch a spot on Team USA.
”It would be amazing,” she said. “In my mind, when I went on the floor for basketball, I was representing myself, my family, my hometown, my high school, the state of Indiana, now at DePaul it was the city of Chicago. To be on the world’s greatest stage, representing my country, that’s an athletic dream. That’s the pinnacle.
”I would sit the bench, grab a cup of water, somebody to help carry suitcases off the bus. I would do that, just to be on an Olympic roster. What a dream.”
