GEMIMA MOTEMA

Another EuroProBasket guard has signed in Portugal for the 2026-27 season. Gemima Motema, an American guard who spent three seasons at Northeastern University, earned the roster spot after a full year of waiting on a phone that would not ring.

Three Seasons of NCAA Division I Basketball at Northeastern

Motema played at Northeastern from 2021 to 2024 and defense was the first line on her scouting report. She made the CAA All-Rookie Team as a freshman, averaged 12.6 points across 28 games as a sophomore and led the team with 54 steals, and was named Third Team All-CAA and to the CAA All-Defensive Team that season. She opened 2023-24 as a preseason Second Team All-CAA selection.

Before Northeastern she was a Miss Maine Basketball finalist at Portland High School, averaging 17.6 points, 6.3 rebounds and 4.1 steals a game over her career.

Her Fall in Valencia

Motema joined the Women’s Professional Program in Valencia in September 2025. Two sessions a day, five days a week, weights on top of it. The second week is the one she still points to.

“Mentally, I kept reminding myself that this is part of what it takes to become a professional.”

The games changed the way she trains.

“European basketball taught me that becoming a better player doesn’t always mean doing more. Sometimes it means simplifying your game and doing the important things really well.”

Her games were recorded and the film went into our scouting network.

The Year Nobody Called

Then it went quiet. She trained through the fall, through the winter and into March without a single call from a team.

“I didn’t want to be 50 years old one day looking back and wondering what would have happened if I had just kept pushing, even when the opportunities weren’t coming.”

She kept training anyway.

“I could live with trying and failing, but I would have a much harder time living with knowing that I gave up too early.”

Dozens of teams looked at her profile over those months. Only one had to say yes.

The Call from Portugal

The head coach spoke with her for about half an hour before offering her the spot. The first call she made was to her dad, who had spent the year asking whether anyone had rung.

“For so long, my answer had basically been no, so it felt really good to finally call him and say, ‘A team actually wants to sign me.'”

Portugal is a hard place to earn a roster spot. An import has to be better than what the club already has at home.

“I’m not the tallest player on the floor, but I compete, I move well, and I’m willing to guard different types of players.”

How do NCAA Division I women sign overseas?

They sign the way Motema did. She put a Division I résumé on the table, played in front of European coaches in Spain, and waited for the right roster to open. Some players sign within weeks. She waited out an entire season.

Where This Route Starts

EuroProBasket has been running programs in Spain for over a decade. 400+ players signed and committed in 25+ different countries since 2015. Receipts, not promises. Games are professionally recorded and the film stays with our scouting network long after a player flies home. Women looking for the same route can start with the Women’s Professional Program in Valencia and see where our players have signed.

How long does it take to sign overseas after a program in Europe?

It varies. Motema signed almost a year after her program in Valencia, and her advice to players sitting in that quiet is direct: “The silence doesn’t always mean the opportunity is gone.”