Albeit, 20 hours away from her native Australia.

It’s been four and a half years since Seekamp made the move to the United States and to the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, and if you were to ask her about the transition, you’d hear nothing but positives about the move.

“This is probably one of the best decisions I’ve ever made,” she said during an interview one January afternoon at the DakotaDome.

Basketball has always enabled the 23-year-old senior standout for the Coyote women’s basketball team to travel around her home country, around the world and since she arrived at USD, around the United States.

The idea of being that far from family – parents and two brothers – is no longer an issue, considering she moved away from home at the age of 14 and was in the United States two years after graduating from high school.

Time has certainly helped, according to Seekamp.

“I’m a family oriented person, but I’ve gotten used to it by now,” said Seekamp, who prior to this season has led the USD women’s basketball team to three consecutive Summit League championship games (including a title in 2014).

“I don’t cry myself to sleep or anything like that,” she added, smiling.

Born in Renmark, South Australia (a town of fewer than 1,000 residents), Seekamp frequently made the 3-hour drive to Adelaide to play basketball over the weekends when she was in eighth and ninth grade.

Not only did the travel take its toll, it got to be rather expensive, so her parents – Frosty and Charmaine – decided to move Seekamp in with her aunt and uncle in Adelaide. Seekamp attended Brighton Secondary School in Adelaide, but at a young age, was thrown into a position of adjustment.

“They still came up to visit a lot of weekends, but that was a hard adjustment because it was my first time, really, away from family,” Seekamp said.

By the time she graduated from high school in December 2009, Seekamp had already played in a number of national basketball events, among them: U18 Australia Championships, the Australia Youth Olympic Festival and the FIBA Oceania Tournament.

It was right around that time that a young assistant coach named Ryan Larsen from the University of South Dakota emailed Seekamp. The school, new to the NCAA Division I waters at that time, was interested in bringing Seekamp over to the United States.

Ultimately she stayed over in Australia for nearly two more years, but all the while remained in contact with Larsen – he is now the head coach at South Dakota Tech in Rapid City.

“He was like a brother to me,” Seekamp said. “We got really close. He was a huge part of me coming here.”

There were also options for Seekamp to come over and play for Oregon State University or the University of Wyoming, but she eventually decided to sign with USD in 2011. What was the ultimate deciding factor?

Trust, Seekamp will tell you, matter-of-factly.

“Coaches can tell you, ‘You’ll start,’ or ‘You’ll play a lot of minutes,’ but I felt like USD was really honest and truthful with me,” Seekamp said. “They seemed like it would be a great fit.

“I gave it a try and haven’t looked back since.”

And the USD women’s basketball program, now led by head coach Amy Williams (who took over for Ryun Williams, who was there when Seekamp joined), has benefited from her presence.

As of mid-February, Seekamp ranked second all-time in Coyote history in points and assists, and ranks third in steals.

While there have certainly been talented women’s basketball players to come out of Australia, there was a time when the country was known more for the men’s players who came to the United States.

“When I was growing up, it was more guys who came over to college because it was their way to be noticed and get to the NBA,” Seekamp said.

“With females, I don’t think it was that big of a deal.”

As to why the trend has changed, Seekamp credited the level of competition in her home country, as well as the number of college options in the United States – between junior colleges, two divisions in the NAIA, and three in the NCAA.

“Now, with how good America is in sports, it’s one of those things that if you want to be the best, you’ve got to compete with the best,” Seekamp said. “That’s why probably more people are coming over here.”

Once over here, Seekamp quickly realized it wouldn’t be easy to fly home. It’s not liking packing up a car and driving five hours home for a holiday.

Christmas, especially, has been a difficult time, she said. Seekamp said she has been invited to go home with teammates, but more often than not chose not to.

“I honestly don’t mind being by myself. It’s a little bit of a break from the team,” Seekamp said smiling.

This past holiday break, though, Seekamp spent time with another native Australian on the USD women’s basketball team, Jasmine Trimboli.

Seekamp very nearly, however, might not have been in Vermillion this year.

After last season, she applied for and was granted a fourth year of eligibility by the NCAA. When she had arrived at USD back in 2011, she was originally charged with the loss of one of four seasons of eligibility – because of her amateur competition after high school graduation.

Last April, though, came the news she had been hoping for. Seekamp was working on a class project in the USD library when assistant coach Tandem Mays called.

“’Coach wants to talk to you,’” Seekamp recalls Mays saying. “I thought, ‘Oh god, what did I do.’ But then she said we heard back from the NCAA and that it was good news.”

In granting Seekamp a fourth year, the NCAA only required that Seekamp sit out the first two games of this season – a “withholding” in NCAA lexicon.

“That was nothing,” Seekamp said, before pausing. “Until the first two games came, then I hated it.”

Now that her final college basketball season – this time, officially final – is winding down, Seekamp has another decision to make: What next? Does she pursue professional basketball opportunities, and if so, where?

The Psychology major, who will graduate later this year, said she is still waiting to see what her options could be before officially deciding on anything. She wouldn’t mind pursuing her interest in Massage Therapy back home, but there also might be more basketball opportunities – overseas, WNBA, etc.

“Once I decide where I’m going next, I want to come back and keep working out with the team to stay in shape and be ready for whenever,” Seekamp said.

If she has her way, Seekamp will head off for her next adventure coming off another trip to the NCAA Tournament. The Coyote women reached the NCAA Tournament in 2014, and last season won the Summit League regular season title – losing, though, to South Dakota State in the championship game.

Doing all of that in the same year would make for quite a finish to her career, Seekamp said.

“I definitely want to put it all together,” Seekamp said. “That’s the plan.”