{"id":74845,"date":"2022-12-27T17:30:18","date_gmt":"2022-12-27T17:30:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/?p=74845"},"modified":"2022-12-27T17:30:58","modified_gmt":"2022-12-27T17:30:58","slug":"all-in-the-family-israeli-sisters-lior-and-yarden-garzon-turning-heads-and-making-marks-at-us-colleges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/en\/all-in-the-family-israeli-sisters-lior-and-yarden-garzon-turning-heads-and-making-marks-at-us-colleges\/","title":{"rendered":"All in the Family: Israeli sisters Lior and Yarden Garzon turning heads and making marks at US colleges"},"content":{"rendered":"

Continuing to impress in each of their standout 2022-23 seasons, sisters Lior and Yarden Garzon have already made their mark on the women\u2019s college basketball scene. Headlining highlight reels while gaining national attention, both sisters have been turning heads as scoring machines. Lior, a junior forward at Oklahoma State University, and Yarden, a freshman guard at Indiana University, both left their home country of Israel to pursue basketball dreams abroad. Luckily, they didn\u2019t have to do it alone. Thanks to their strong familial bond, as well as the Jewish communities they\u2019ve been able to surround themselves with at their respective schools, Lior and Yarden have had tremendous support from their teams, communities, and each other, all of which has been a key to their basketball success. <\/p>\n

Lior and Yarden were raised in an athletic family and given opportunities to try multiple sports growing up. Their father played basketball when he was younger, as did their other siblings, while their mother played volleyball. Yarden noted that she originally wanted to pursue a volleyball career because of her mother, but after her first day of basketball practice, she loved it and decided to keep coming back. The Garzon sisters quickly joined club basketball teams at a young age and continued progressing through the ranks.
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Yarden Garzon – Photo Credit: FIBA<\/p><\/div>
\nBoth Lior and Yarden have been playing on the Israeli National Team for many years, which is where they first felt a strong sense of fulfillment and belonging with a basketball team. \u201cI feel like it\u2019s my place. I feel really comfortable with them. I came up through the youth team and played all the way through the senior team. Playing with the national team gives me a lot of pride to represent my country,\u201d said Lior. Yarden feels the same honor that her sister does in playing for the national team and appreciates how fortunate she is for the strong connections it built for her. \u201cWhat I took from the national team is the friendship I have with the girls and coaches today,\u201d Lior reflects. They have both won multiple medals and championships with the national team, and continue to play with them when not competing for their college teams. <\/p>\n

Being the older sister, Lior made her decision to come pursue a basketball career in the US first, joining a successful Villanova team in 2020. During her freshman year, she averaged 8.8 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 20.9 minutes per game. She continued to be a hardworking, consistent force in the paint, and proved herself to become an everyday starter during her sophomore season. During 2021-22, Lior started all 32 games that she played, became the team\u2019s leading scorer with an average of 13.1 points per game, and also picked up multiple accolades including a second-team all-league selection and Big East Conference Co-Most Improved Player. Lior was an important part in helping lead the Wildcats to the Big East championship game, which she recalls is one of her biggest accomplishments to date.
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Lior Garzon – Photo Credit: FIBA<\/p><\/div>
\nLior transferred to Oklahoma State University at the beginning of the 2022-23 season to join the Cowgirls for her junior year, where she has continued to put up impressive performances. \u201cI ended up at OSU because I love the people here and the campus itself. When I visited here, it felt like home and the right place for me to be, on and off the court,\u201d said Lior. Before the season started, she was one of 20 players named to the watch list for the 2023 Cheryl Miller Award, given annually to the best women\u2019s basketball small forward in the NCAA competition. In one of her most recent games, Lior hit a season high of 21 points off the bench as OSU cruised to an 8-2 record. <\/p>\n

Yarden, a current freshman at Indiana University, followed in her sister\u2019s footsteps and decided that playing basketball in the US would be the most logical next step for her career. \u201cI met Vernard Hollins, an American basketball trainer, through other Israeli basketball players and In July 2019, I came over to Ft. Wayne, Indiana to train with him in [his] hometown. He was going to speak to colleges on my behalf and he reached out to IU assistant coach Glenn Box. Two months later, I began speaking to Indiana,\u201d recalled Yarden. In her collegiate debut, she knocked down 19 points (including five three-pointers), with four rebounds, four assists, two steals, and one block. Within her first few weeks with the team, she was averaging 19 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists on the road, earning her the honor of B1G Freshman of the Week. Currently holding an average of 11.5 points per game, 4.4 rebounds, and 4 assists, Yarden has helped the number four ranked Indiana Hoosiers to a 10-0 start to their season.<\/p>\n

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\ud83c\uddee\ud83c\uddf1\ud83c\udfc0\ud83d\udd25Lior Garzon scores 8p for @OSUWBB<\/a> in their 73-54 victory over MSU! pic.twitter.com\/MvAJrms7nN<\/a><\/p>\n

— Sports Rabbi (@thesportsrabbi) November 18, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n