An old saying goes that one should always follow her heart.

Nothing could be more true of two former NIU women’s basketball players, who now play in the PLKK Polish League.

Record setting players Marke Freeman and Ebony Ellis both enjoyed much success at NIU. Freeman became the 26th player to join the 1,000 point club for her NIU career.

Freeman also became the third player ever to average 14 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals in a season as a Huskie.

Ellis also put her place in the record books, becoming the ninth player in NIU history to get over 800 career rebounds.

Although they still play basketball, their situation has required some acclimation.

Ellis and Freeman both live in apartments, Freeman alone and Ellis with a teammate.

“My living situation is not that different from colle-ge,” Ellis said. “The only difference is now I live in a village instead of a city.”

Both players have had to adapt to a new league by learning the intricacies of the rules.

“There are different rules and regulations, which is a little difficult at times,” Freeman said. “I have been training under the American style for as long as I can remember. It is hard to break those habits in literally days…I began playing just three days after arriving in Poland.”

Ellis agreed she has had to adapt as well, but that she felt comfortable with the style of play expected of her after their training camp.

Their college coach Kathi Bennett realizes how important this is for not only them as players, but for NIU basketball as well.

“First of all, I’m just thrilled for them to be rewarded for all their hard work of improving their game,” Bennett said. “Secondly, it looks pretty good when we have two players from our program out there playing overseas.”

They both have had to sacrifice many things, including the use of the English language at times, but they both have a translator on the team and have also picked up many words and phrases in Polish from their teammates.

“Luckily my teammate got together and got me a translation dictionary as one of my birthday gifts,” laughed Freeman. “It really helps. Before I was using charades or just looking at pictures.”

Although they have been separated from their loved ones, grappled with foreign languages and overall been thrust into a strange environment and a different fashion of basketball, they both appreciate and understand the opportunity.

“I think the best part of this experience is seeing how much its helped me to grow as a player and, more importantly, as a person,” Ellis said. “I’ve learned so much about myself and the game of basketball just in these few months of living in Poland. Not to mention I’m living my dream. I’m traveling the world while doing what I love to do.”