Pilgrim basketball player Hannah French recently made her college decision official, committing to Roger Williams University in Bristol. She will be studying criminal justice and will be trying out for the basketball team in the fall.

French was one of Pilgrim’s top players over the past two seasons and was a big part of the program’s turnaround and return to the postseason. She was also named to the Beacon’s All-City team the past two years for her performance.

“Since we didn’t have a spring season, it really gave me something to look forward to. I liked everything about Roger Williams. I am studying criminal justice and they have a really good program, I liked the size of the school, it was a really good fit,” French said.

Roger Williams is a defense-first program, which French believes plays to her strengths as she looks to carve out a spot on the roster.

“I’ve been working hard and training. I’ve been working on dribbling, focusing on my left hand. The coach said the team is very defensive, that’s what they focus on. I think that’s a strong suit I have in my game, so I am really focusing on making good decisions on the offensive side,” said French. “I play good defense, I’m aggressive, I will just do what I always do whenever I am on the court. Give it your all, don’t take anything for granted and put everything out there.”

Playing in a competitive environment and big games in her finally two seasons in high school has helped boost her confidence as she looks to take the next step. She will also miss the Warwick community and her teammates at Pilgrim.

“I loved my time at Pilgrim basketball. We had a lot of fun times, I’ll always remember making it to playoffs, the bus rides. I’ll miss that,” said French. “Playing in those big games definitely boosted my confidence, and knowing that in a playoff games, we were able to shut down players, it definitely boosted my confidence on defense especially.”