Justine Raterman

Classroom

Raterman is part of the University of Dayton Honors program and is in the highly-innovative University Core Program, in which 150 students are selected each year to represent a cross-section of new students with differing backgrounds and abilities. Core is designed to deepen the learning experience for students. Raterman is a double major in AYA Math Education and Mathematics. Raterman, who carries a 3.726 GPA, was named the Scholar Athlete of the Year for the Dayton women’s basketball team in 2008-09 and 2009-10. She has attained a perfect 4.0 GPA in five different semesters. Raterman was a second-team CoSIDA All-District IV selection in 2010-11 and a first-team CoSIDA All-District selection in 2011-12. She was also named to the five-person 2012 Atlantic 10 All-Academic Team. She was a Dayton Presidential Outstanding Scholar-Athlete Award nominee in 2010-11 and has been named to the Atlantic 10 Commissioner’s Honor Roll and UD Dean’s List every semester at Dayton. She is also a physics tutor. In addition to completing a double major, Raterman is also starting graduate classes this 2012 spring semester at UD.

Character

Justine Raterman has had a more profound impact on Dayton’s program than any other player. She has been the face of the program in every way.  She has been a great example of class and work ethic. Raterman is a two-time team captain. The Flyers have made four consecutive postseason appearances under Raterman’s leadership, including back-to-back NCAA Championship at-large berths in 2009-10 and 2010-11 and the program’s first automatic NCAA berth this season after winning the A-10 Women’s Basketball Championship for the first time ever, winning three games and three days and finishing by knocking off No. 16 St. Bonaventure 56-53 in the title game. The 2009-10 season marked the first time ever that Dayton women’s basketball earned a berth in the NCAA Division I Tournament. Throughout the 2010-11 season Raterman continually showed her mental and physical strength. She suffered a concussion late in the season, but she came back and led UD in the Atlantic 10 Championship to three straight victories vaulting the Flyers to the program’s first-ever title game. In the semifinal she suffered a knee injury. The team thought it was a torn meniscus, but Raterman actually tore her ACL. To keep team morale high, she did not disclose this to her teammates and scored 19 points and had six rebounds in the A-10 championship game in which UD fell to No. 4 Xavier. ESPN analyst Debbie Antonelli named Raterman one of her Top 5 Inspirational Players of the 2011 NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship. Raterman underwent surgery immediately after the season and was cleared for play on September 27. She did not miss a single team practice and has started every game of the 2011-12 season.  She has also been the women’s basketball representative on University of Dayton’s Student Athlete Advisory Committee since her freshman year. She is on the Community Service Committee of SAAC that organizes service opportunities and Dayton’s tradition of Christmas on Campus. She is also a member of Dayton’s Athletes in Action.

Community

Raterman has volunteered more time than any other player in the Dayton program. She is an amazing role model for her teammates and all the young boys and girls who look up to her. On the court she is nothing but intelligence and hard work and sportsmanship. Nearly her entire town shows up to home games to support her because they believe in what she is about to such a great degree.Raterman and the Dayton women’s basketball team were honored with the 2011 Atlantic 10 Female Sportsmanship Award. The Flyers were honored with the 2010-11 Student Service Award from the Miami Valley Catholic Social Services for their work within the local schools and hospitals. They also were recipients of the 2010 Erin Ritchey Memorial Volunteer Service Award, recognized for their continued commitment and exceptional support to individuals with disabilities. The UD women’s basketball team has won the Flyer Challenge in the first two years (2009-10 and 2010-11). It is a program to increase UD student-athletes’ involvement in NCAA CHAMPS/Life Skills. Individually, Raterman’s list of volunteer activities includes being a one-on-one tutor at Student Learning Services one-on-one since 2010, working with Habitat for Humanity, the University of Dayton’s YMCA Olympics and the Dayton Ronald McDonald House, visiting patients in the Dayton Children’s Hospital and delivering presents to the YMCA Grace Methodist Daycare the last three years. She is also involved with Special Olympics basketball, she has participated in MRDD activities with the FANtastic Flyers, a UD women’s basketball fan club comprised of people with special needs, and has organized a relationship between UD’s Bombeck Center (on-campus daycare and school) with the Flyer athletic department that provides all sports teams opportunities to visit the children at the Center.

Competition

Raterman was named the Most Outstanding Player of the 2012 Atlantic 10 Women’s Basketball Championship, as well as to the All-Championship Team. She becomes the first player to ever be named to the A-10 Women’s Basketball All-Championship Team in four consecutive seasons. She was also named First Team All-Atlantic 10 and became the first Flyer to earn that honor in back-to-back seasons. Heading into their third consecutive NCAA Tournament, the Flyers have a 23-6 record under Raterman’s leadership (three of the six losses were to teams that are currently nationally-ranked).Raterman is currently a projected WNBA second round draft pick (No. 19). She entered her senior season on the John R. Wooden Award list and was invited to the USA basketball team for the World University Games but had to decline due to her injury. She has been the Flyers’ leading scorer for four consecutive seasons, during which she has moved into the top 10 of several career categories: including the modern era leader in total points (1,818) and rebounds (907). She is also second in three-pointers made (182), third in three-point field goal percentage (.378), third in free throw percentage (.811—300-of-370) and fourth in games played (129). She is ninth all-time at UD in blocked shots (76).  As a junior, she was named first-team All-Atlantic 10 and the team named her its Most Valuable Player. Earlier in her career, Raterman earned second-team All-Atlantic 10 and Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year honors. Raterman led the Flyers to a 12-2 conference record in their 2011-12 Atlantic 10 schedule and had a +16.0 average margin of victory; the 12 conference wins are the most in program history. She is the team’s leading scorer and rebounder with 14.4 ppg (4th in A-10) and 6.3 rpg. She also leads UD in three-point field goals made (46) and free throw percentage (.849 - 3rd in A-10) and is second for the Flyers in field goal percentage (.457). She was named to the Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic (Dec. 20-21) all-tournament team, as well as a tournament MVP of the Saint Peter’s College Holiday Classic (Dec. 29-30). Raterman was named Atlantic 10 Player of the Week on Jan. 2, 2012. She was also honored as A-10 Player of the Week on Feb. 27,marking the 13th A-10 weekly honor of her career. Raterman saved her best regular season games for last. She averaged 28.5 points and 6.0 rebounds. In Dayton’s 83-54 win over Xavier, Raterman scored a game-high 25 points and also had two blocked shots. She tied her career-high with 32 points in Dayton’s overtime win over Duquesne, including a perfect 6-of-6 showing at the free throw line. In addition to her 32 points, which is tied for the single-game most points this season by an A-10 player, Raterman grabbed a team-high three steals and a game-high eight rebounds. She also clinched the game by knocking down two free throws with eight seconds remaining in overtime, two of her six overtime points. During the week she shot 60 percent (22-38) from three-point range. She was also two-time Pickin’Splinters Performance of the Week honoree, the only player in the A-10 to earn it twice. She was featured in an ESPN.com article by Graham Hayes on Dec. 26, 2011. She tied a Dayton record when she sank seven three-pointers in a game, a 73-63 win over South Florida in which she scored a season-high 26 points.