CHARLESTON, S.C. - The life of a student-athlete is full of challenges: moving away from home for the first time, adjusting to new coaches and teammates and balancing sports and academics at a Division I school in a new home is no easy task. Add in a life-altering disease and you have the story of Charleston women's basketball player Sophia Tougas.
Tougas began her collegiate journey in California, a mere 2,500 miles from her hometown of Glen Falls, N.Y. As a true freshman she played in all 18 games of a season limited by Covid-19 restrictions and led Cal State Bakersfield first-year players in points, field goals, rebounds and blocks.
"I didn't feel like I had the college hoops experience I dreamed of my first year, and I was motivated to enter my sophomore season better than ever," Tougas said. "I got a trial run my freshman year, and that summer I was in the best shape of my life."
Heading into her second year out west, Tougas was thrown a curveball. She developed an intense pain in her knee during a pickup game, although she could not recall sustaining any sort of injury. Despite doctors initially diagnosing her with a meniscus tear, nothing in imaging revealed any structural damage to her knee. With the 2021-22 season rapidly approaching and still no answers, Tougas began to experience swelling and immense pain in her other knee.
"It was at that point we realized the problem was systemic," Tougas recalled. "It was in November when it was determined that the issue was with my body and that I had an illness rather than an injury, but it took two more months to be finally diagnosed."
That illness turned out to be rheumatoid arthritis, a chronic condition which causes the immune system to attack its own tissues by mistake. Her life was instantly altered, with her future in basketball unknown.
"For seven months my body had fully turned on me," Tougas said. "By the time of my diagnosis, I couldn't do daily tasks on my own. Simply getting out of bed was a struggle. I was told I was never going to play basketball again, and it felt like the life I was living wasn't mine. Without basketball I was losing a piece of my identity."
Tougas wasn't going to let the possibility of losing basketball cause her to give up. With her family on the opposite side of the country, she turned to her closest friends and coaches to become her surrogate family in California. They drove her to hospital appointments, cared for her and provided her with whatever she needed. But even in the physical absence of her mother, Tougas felt her presence every day, going so far as to say that without her she would've given up hope not only on basketball but life itself.
"My mom has really been such a light for me," Tougas said admiringly. "She is a superwoman, and anyone who has ever met her will tell you the same."
After taking a medical redshirt, Tougas persevered through infusions, self-administered shots, chemotherapy and medication to stay on the court. She was able to play in 53 games with 30 starts over the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons, tallying 400 points, grabbing 207 rebounds and blocking 32 shots over that span before transferring to College of Charleston for her redshirt junior season.
In her first season as a Cougar, she played in 30 of 33 games, averaging 5.2 points and having the second-most three-pointers on the team with 37.
Not only has Tougas defied the odds in continuing her college basketball career, but she has also come to appreciate the light in what she could have easily let become a dark experience. She recalled an unexpected opportunity during the summer of 2022 when she was in pain but still attended her college's summer basketball camp.
"My coach was sitting next to a young girl and calls me over," Tougas said. "He then told me she also has rheumatoid arthritis. I was shocked that she had the strength, courage and bravery to play the game she loves. Meeting this girl months after my diagnosis and living in the unknown gave me hope."
"Her, her mother and I stay connected through Instagram, and they have become a real support system knowing that I wasn't alone."
Tougas also mentions the connections she has made along the way, including a recent CAA alumni who played through college with an autoimmune disease.
After being told she was never going to be able to play basketball again and discussing a medical retirement, Tougas proudly steps on the court ready to begin her last season in Charleston.
"There is no playbook on how to deal with a situation like this," Tougas explained. "You must not only understand it for yourself but also try to explain it to your teammates, coaches, trainers and family. You can't do this alone. It is very important who you surround yourself with."
Tougas and the Charleston women's basketball team will return to the court for their 2025-26 season in November.
