The continued international presence of RMU women’s basketball

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RMU Women’s Basketball 2021-22 women’s basketball international pipeline Photo credit: Jonathan Hanna

Ethan Morrison
December 3, 2021

Over the years, RMU women’s basketball has had a strong recruiting footprint with international players.

Even before current head coach Charlie Buscaglia succeeded his father Sal Buscaglia for the role, the father-son coaching tandem always had a lot of success with recruiting international players and this year is no different.

In the 2018 documentary The International Pipeline, former members of Colonial Sports Network took a deeper dive into just how strong the team’s global footprint is.

This season is no different, as Robert Morris has six different players from five different countries.

With that being said, let’s look at the current international pipeline that the Colonials bring to the table this season.

Nina Augustin – Grad – Helsinki, Finland

The Finnish guard is the first player in program history to ever hail from the country of Finland, doing so when she signed her National Letter of Intent in 2017.

Augustin has been a reliable option at the guard position over her years in Moon Township, averaging 6.3 points per game and just above two assists per game.

She set the single-season record at Robert Morris for free throw percentage (89.4%) in the 2019-20 season and ranks fourth all-time at RMU in free throw percentage.

She was also named to the NEC All-Tournament team in 2019.

Esther Castedo – Senior – Lugo, Spain

Castedo is one of two guards from the country of Spain. In four seasons with the program, Castedo is averaging seven points a game and is averaging a career-high 11 points per game this season.

The guard has been a consistent presence on the team and her scoring touch has gotten better every season.

Sol Castro – Sophomore – Rio Colorado, Argentina

Castro is the first player in program history to come from Argentina and she was a standout performer in her freshman season, becoming the first freshman in program history to lead the team in scoring since the 2001-02 campaign.

Castro averaged just under 10 points in her freshman campaign last season and is currently averaging nine points per game this season.

Alejandra Mastral – Freshman – Zaragoza, Spain

The second guard from Spain has carved a nice role for herself in her freshman season, averaging five points a game in her six career games as a Colonial.

Phoenix Gedeon – Freshman – Montreal, Quebec

Gedeon has gotten significant minutes off of the bench for the Colonials this season averaging 12.3 minutes a game while tallying four points per game.

Rebecca Dwomoh – Freshman – London, England

The guard from across the pond hasn’t gotten much playing time with the more veteran guards on the roster, but in her prep career, she averaged 5.1 points per game at the U18 championships.

Robert Morris only has one player from the state of Pennsylvania on their roster this season, having players hailing from seven different states and six different countries.

The Buscaglia family’s ability to recruit international players over the years has been fascinating and it has no signs of slowing down, especially after netting the commitment of three more international players this year.

The international presence on the current women’s basketball roster will always shine brightly.Β It is always great to see just where the recruiting radar of the Buscaglia family will end up next.