TACOMA, Wash. — If she could have driven across the Pacific Ocean to play basketball, Brandie Tobin would have been on a two-way street.
 
The eastbound lanes would have taken her from her native Hawaii to the state of Washington, with offramps in Olympia and Tacoma for four years of college competition.
 
Then, the westbound lanes would have taken her all the way to Japan with an exit to Nagoya for a chance to play the game as a pro.
 
Of course, she had to rely on a flight path instead of a highway to get from there to here and back to there. But regardless of how Tobin made her trans-ocean trek …
 
… all routes ultimately led her to the hardwood.

  "My brother is over (in Japan), and ever since we were little, we always had dreamed of playing overseas," said Tobin, a 2025 Pacific Lutheran University graduate who just recently finished her first pro season with the Mitsubishi Electric Koalas in the Women's Japan Basketball League (commonly referred to as the W League). "When I was going through my senior season at PLU, I thought that was it for me for basketball."
 
If it had been, Tobin's hoops journey still would have lasted longer than many others whose careers hit a stop sign before ever getting to college. Hers took her from Maryknoll High School in Honolulu to two seasons at South Puget Sound Community College in Olympia and then to PLU for two seasons.
 
Matter of fact, so convinced was Tobin that she had taken her final shot on the court that she turned out for PLU's inaugural women's lacrosse season last spring.
 
"Then my brother's agent came over for dinner last summer and said, 'I might have an opportunity for you,'" Tobin recalled. He said, 'I got a call and there's a team that wants you.'
 
"A month later, I flew out to Japan."
 
FIRST A CLIPPER, THEN A LUTE
At South Puget Sound Community College (2021-22 and 22-23), Tobin was a regular part of the rotation, playing 45 games with 40 starts. As a sophomore, she was on the court for the opening whistle in all 26 games that she played.
 
Both seasons, Tobin helped the Clippers qualify for the Northwest Athletic Conference Tournament, averaging 3.5 points per game as a freshman and 6.7 as a sophomore.
 
Then, the aspiring psychology major needed someplace else to go for the final two years of her studies and her basketball career.
 
"When I was looking around, I wasn't sure I wanted to stay in Washington," said Tobin, who's now 22. "I was looking at a school in California and maybe something in the Midwest.
 
One of South Puget Sound's assistant coaches suggested she connect with PLU head coach Lee Aduddell, who was looking for a transfer guard to bring some experience to the team.

"Coach Lee was in her second year (with the Lutes) and was still building that culture – and that's something I'm really big on," Tobin said. "Not only basketball-wise, but how much could I grow as a person and what kind of academics could the school offer me."
 
It didn't take Aduddell long to see what Tobin could do for the Lutes.
 
"She would have five or six points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals," Aduddell said of a typical night for Tobin. "She is such a dynamic player – she truly can be kind of a point forward on the floor. She was sort of an enigma who is best in transition offensively, but also can post up a defender.
 
"We were excited to use her in a lot of different ways."
 
For Tobin, it turned out to be just the fit she was seeking, having created a family of friends, such as it were, while at South Puget Sound.
 
"I kind of wanted to stay in Washington," Tobin said "I liked where PLU was headed basketball-wise, I majored in psychology, and they have a really good program."
 
As a junior in 2023-24, Tobin started 24 of her 25 games. She averaged just 4.0 points, but led the Lutes in assists (86 / (3.4 per game) and steals (38 / 1.3). Even though she stands just 5-foot-7, Tobin's 116 rebounds ranked No. 2 on the team.
 
"We even changed a little bit of what we did in transition offensively," Aduddell said. "She was so capable of getting two feet to the paint and creating for other people, and that was invaluable."

Last season, Tobin dealt with an injury, so didn't get nearly as many minutes. But she still dished 44 assists and grabbed 65 rebounds.
 
"I really enjoyed it. It was a struggle my senior year compared to my junior year because I didn't get as much playing time. I was also injured my senior year, so that was a struggle," Tobin said. "But I also grew in my faith and grew with God through that. It shaped me for this opportunity to play overseas – and also led to lacrosse."
 
EARLY TO RISE
If lacrosse was a new sport for Tobin – and it essentially was except for playing it in middle school P.E. – she had plenty of company in that regard.
 
That's because it was a new sport for PLU, as well.
 
"One of our assistant basketball coaches said they were still looking for women for lacrosse," Tobin said. "Coming out of basketball season, I didn't want to be done with sports. I didn't feel like I was finished yet. So I said, 'OK, lacrosse – let's try this out.'"
 
Tobin had a conversation with head coach Melanie Rizzotti and decided to go for it.
 
"A lot of basketball footwork will apply to lacrosse – but I had to learn catching the ball with an actual stick,' Tobin said. "Coach Mel had me try out and was teaching me how to throw and catch. It was seeing what I wanted out of playing and seeing if I fit their culture and if their culture fit what I was expecting from them."
 
It definitely fit – even on days when the sun wasn't up yet.
 
"Our practice started at 6:00 a.m. But when I showed up, all the girls were cheerful," Tobin said with a bit of a laugh. "This is a lot different than a lot of basketball players who were about to have a 6:00 a.m. practice."
 
As might be expected, it took Tobin awhile to get the hang of it. But she ultimately wound up seeing action in 13 of PLU's 15 games.
 
"I thought I was not good at all," she said. "I was dropping balls left and right. But all the other girls were saying, 'You're catching a lot of balls, too.' They were really hyping me up."

 
TAKING HOOPS TO THE NEXT LEVEL
The lacrosse season ended on April 27, and Tobin graduated about a month later. For a while, no sports events were on her calendar.
 
Then came the timely dinner with her brother's agent … followed a month later by that flight to Japan to join the Mitsubishi Electric Koalas in Nagoya.
 
"Honestly, it's a blessing from God. To go from a CC (at South Puget Sound) to D3 (at PLU) to playing overseas is unheard of," Tobin said.
 
As a newcomer on a team filled with veterans, Tobin got limited playing time. She saw action in six of 24 games as the Koalas went 15-9 for a fourth-place finish in the seven-team W League Future Division. (There is also an eight-team Premier Division, with promotion and relegation between the two divisions, similar to most of the world's soccer leagues.) The season began last October and concluded on Feb. 8.
 
"A lot of girls from last season left, so we started off as a young team," Tobin said. "But as the season went on, we got a lot of veterans. Although I didn't play as much as I wanted to, I learned a lot from the girls around me."

She also was learning how to play a new position. Tobin was a point guard with the Lutes. The Koalas see her potential as a wing.
 
"I'm a pass-first type of point guard and I love to share the ball with teammates," said Tobin, who had those 130 assists in her two years at PLU. "Here, they want me to score a lot and shoot a lot more 3's. I like to attack the basket a lot more. I learned a lot, but there's still a lot that I need to learn."
 
NOT READY TO STOP
Tobin would like to return next season and is keeping the door wide open.
 
"I'm talking to my agent and all that – it's my first time doing this," Tobin said. "I'm not a fan of the business side – I just want to play. It's something I need to learn because now as a professional, it is my business. We'll see how it goes and what my agent says."
 
Even with her limited playing time, Tobin already has seen some growth in her game.
 
"I would say I became better in my confidence, not only sticking to what I know, but also putting myself out there and trying something new and becoming a 3-point shooter," she said. "Putting me in different roles allowed me to grow as a basketball player and also as an individual. I've gotten a lot faster and have been working on my speed and agility. I'm a lot more lighter on my feet, that's for sure."

As Aduddell sees it, Tobin has earned the chance to keep going.
 
"What an incredible opportunity. Very few get to play beyond college – that's incredible," she said. "We're just so proud of her and happy for her."
 
Whenever and wherever her playing days eventually end, Tobin, with her psychology degree, would like to stick with athletics in some way, at some level.
 
"I was looking at high school or middle school counseling, or coaching," she said. "I don't necessarily know exactly what I want to do with psychology. I would want to stay in the sports world with it."
 
With multiple journeys across the Pacific Ocean to fulfill her love of playing basketball, that world seems like just the right fit for Brandie Tobin.