Edel Thornton: All grown up and ready to answer Ireland’s call

She is slight and unfailingly polite but an altogether more robust young lady than the callow girl who cut her basketball teeth in the Parochial Hall on the northside of Cork city.

Four years ago, venerable Tralee coach Jimmy Diggins tapped me on the arm during an U18 National Cup semi-final at the Hall. “Watch No. 11 Brunell,” he gestured towards a slip of youthful vigour slaloming to the basket. “She’s the real deal.”

The basketball program at Sweet 16 college Quinnipiac is nodding approvingly. The shy, introvert, and once homesick Edel Thornton has matured into a leader, a co-captain, and a bona-fide NCAA starlet. On St Patrick’s Day last, she went for 14 points as eighth ranked Quinnipiac outlasted Miami in a televised duel on ESPN.