Inside the Huddle | Dolan Continues Family Legacy, Becomes Fourth Sibling to Play College Basketball

Basketball is ingrained in Gretchen Dolan’s DNA. Her mom, Kristen, competed at Canisius, and her three older siblings – Graham, Greg, and Hannah – all played at the college level.

It was inevitable that Gretchen would not only participate in basketball, but also excel at the sport. It was a family tradition, after all. 

So, that’s exactly what she did.

Now, Gretchen is writing a new chapter in the Dolan family’s collegiate basketball journey, becoming the first of four kids to play at the Power-5 level as she competes in her freshman season at Illinois.

“I can honestly remember being around basketball for as long as I remember,” Gretchen Dolan said. “I remember always being with them and following them around in preschool and kindergarten. It's always been a memory since my childhood.”

As the youngest of four Dolan children, Gretchen credits her siblings for her competitive personality. Everything was a game for her and her siblings, whether it was something as mundane as being the first to grab a cart at the grocery store or something athletic like playing two-on-two games or HORSE in the family’s driveway.

Regardless of the activity, Gretchen Dolan wanted to win. There was no doubt about that. With a two-year age gap between each sibling, it did not matter that she was the smallest or the youngest; instead, it added fuel to the fire. She needed to be the best in everything she set her mind to.

“It was definitely competitive in everything we did. We were always joking with each other and kind of throwing jabs, but it was definitely competitive,” Gretchen Dolan said. “ It's still competitive to this day, but when we were younger, we had to learn some lessons on how to win and how to lose.”

Though she also took part in soccer growing up, Gretchen always knew basketball was going to be her route to college athletics. Playing up to compete alongside her sister, Hannah, starting as a second-grader against fourth-graders, Gretchen kept pace with the older kids. Often traveling to Rochester (N.Y.) to compete against higher-level competition, she was forced to wear baggy uniforms since there was not anything that fit. It did not deter her, though, and she played as hard as she possibly could to overcome the size disparities.

Gretchen continued to play up once Hannah reached high school. Despite only being in seventh grade, she joined the Williamsville South High School junior varsity basketball team before getting called up to the varsity squad before the end of the year.

Despite still being in middle school, Gretchen Dolan knew she belonged among her older teammates, and it was around this time that she realized she had the determination and drive – along with the skills and talent – to eventually play college hoops.

At Williamsville South, Gretchen joined her mom, Kristen, who served as the program’s varsity girls basketball coach. Kristen started coaching at the school ever since Gretchen was in kindergarten, and after growing up in the gym, Gretchen finally earned the opportunity to represent the Billies girls basketball program.

“When I was in kindergarten, I was in the gym with her teams every day after school, just sitting there and doing my homework,” Gretchen Dolan said. “Getting to varsity and playing with those girls, who were already my friends, was definitely a cool experience and something that I learned from early on going into high school.”

After moving up to varsity full-time as an eighth grader, Gretchen’s basketball endeavors crossed state lines after she earned the opportunity to join an AAU team in Philadelphia. Traveling over six hours to make the journey from western New York to eastern Pennsylvania, the Dolan family made sacrifices to commute to the City of Brotherly Love nearly every weekend to attend practices and tournaments.

Though Kristen expressed some initial hesitancy, she ultimately realized the offer was too good to pass up. Gretchen’s involvement became a team effort, and she has no regrets about letting her daughter compete in Philly.

“We sat down with Gretchen, and that's what she wanted,” Kristen Dolan said. “We would leave either Friday after school or super early, like 4, 4:30, 5 in the morning. We'd have a two-hour practice Saturday, we'd stay over, have another two-hour practice on Sunday, and then head back.

“There were great people, and the coaches were wonderful. She's the first to remember how important they all were, and she's very grateful for the opportunity that she was given. It was a good time to get out of the area and for her to go play with the best of the best.”

Traveling as far as Las Vegas for tournaments with her eighth-grade AAU team, Gretchen would sometimes stay with her teammates when her parents or siblings were not able to stay in Philly. Kristen credits those families for making the experience possible.

“We'd make new friends, and the parents would say, ‘Just leave her here for when you come back next weekend.’” Kristen Dolan said. “I literally left her with these wonderful families that we had just met.”

Back in New York, Gretchen excelled in her freshman season at Williamsville South, recording 14.7 points, 2.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 3.0 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game during the 2019-20 campaign. The following year, she took another step forward by averaging 27.3 points, 4.6 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 5.3 steals, and 1.2 blocks in the team’s 13-game COVID-shortened campaign.

Her sophomore season marked her final year playing with her older sister, who Gretchen had played with since the pair were in elementary school. When Hannah departed for Canisius, Gretchen recognized she had to step up.

She did not skip a beat as a junior, surpassing the 1,000-point mark while tallying 38.4 points, 8.6 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 5.0 steals, and 2.0 blocks per game. She earned All-Erie County Interscholastic Conference Player of the Year and first-team all-state honors that season, while she also inched closer to the school’s all-time scoring mark.

The record-holder was quite familiar to Gretchen. He had grown up with her, had occasionally driven her to Philadelphia for AAU practices, and was one of Gretchen’s biggest supporters. It was her older brother, Greg.

The pair would joke about the record as Gretchen approached it, a mark she went on to surpass during her senior season. They were competitive – no point in straying away from tradition and routine – as she moved closer to history, but it was all in good spirit.

“I would joke about it with him, saying I was passing him, but then he would throw a jab back. It was all fun, but I think it was kind of cool and he was super happy for me,” Gretchen Dolan said. “Going into my senior year, I wasn't too focused on accolades or records to break, but as it was coming up, I think it was a cool moment to see.”

Watching her daughter break the record, which had only stood for a few years before Gretchen broke it, was “a nice memory” for Kristen, who never put any sort of extra emphasis or focus on it. While she will forever remember the accolade, Kristen is more proud of how all of her kids rallied around Gretchen throughout her high-school career.

The school’s scoring record was one of many accolades Gretchen garnered over the course of her final year at Williamsville South. Amassing 38.7 points, 9.8 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 3.7 steals, and 1.7 blocks per game, she was the All-ECIC Player of the Year for the second season in a row, and she once again received all-state honors in 2023. 

Setting the Section VI single-season scoring record, Gretchen led the Billies to their ninth sectional title in 10 years, but the biggest award came over one month after her senior campaign ended. 

She was named 2023 Miss New York Basketball.

“It was definitely something I thought about,” Gretchen Dolan said. “Going into my senior year, it wasn’t something I wanted to focus on heavily. Seeing it come about and then getting the award, it definitely was a great memory that I'll always remember, and it's something I did want to accomplish.”

Kristen Dolan credits Gretchen’s trainer, Quintin Redfern, for her daughter’s success. She would spend countless hours with “Q”, whose gym was located nearby. Without Q, Kristen believes Gretchen would be nowhere near as successful as she is today.

“I’m thoroughly convinced he's the reason why her game rose to the next level,” Kristen Dolan said. “We'd finish practice, and she'd be like, ‘Mom, I'm going to Q's.’ I'm like, ‘Gretchen, you gotta be hungry. I gotta get you something on your way.’

“She lived at Q's gym. There were nights last year where I'd drop her off, I'd go home, eat, get my pajamas on. I'd go up there to pick her up at 9:30, and I’d be sitting in the parking lot for another hour sometimes. She just lived in the gym.”

After casually putting together 50-point performances as a senior, Gretchen Dolan announced her commitment to head coach Shauna Green and Illinois before she even began her final year of high-school basketball.

Her instant connection to Green and the entire coaching staff proved to be the difference for Gretchen, who made the move from western New York to Champaign.

“The relationships I had here with Coach Green and all the coaches were like no other,” Gretchen Dolan said. “I think that speaks for itself.”

Gretchen could not be here without her family, who has supported her every step of the way. She is hungry to compete against and alongside the best of the best, and she is ecstatic to continue the Dolan family legacy in her debut campaign with the Fighting Illini.

“Basketball has really helped shape me into who I am today,” Gretchen Dolan said. “The places that it's brought me, the people I've met, and the amazing things I've gotten to do with it are all amazing. There are so many lessons that you can learn from basketball every day.”