Step by step, Rachel Cockman’s dream is coming true.

Raised in Cantwell, the basketball player is headed to Portugal to play in the Portuguese pro league, called Liga Betclic Feminine. She arrives in Portugal today and will play for the team Clube dos Galitos.

“My grand plan is to play in Europe until I am good enough to play in the WNBA, probably three to five years,” she said. “It doesn’t hurt that the WNBA is expanding as well — more opportunities for women like me.”

She figures if she doesn’t get drafted then, but does well in Europe for a few years, she could get a training camp contract and get signed that way.

She has been working toward this goal for a long time.

Cockman first discovered basketball playing on a six-person co-ed team at Cantwell School when she was in fifth gra

See Full Page