Biography

Hello everyone! My name is Kayla Morrissey, and I am from Burr Ridge, IL. I recently graduated with honors from Grinnell College in Iowa. I attained a B.A. in General Science with concentrations in Biology and Statistics. Luckily, I found a school that was crazy enough to allow me to play basketball and softball for 4 years. I was captain of the basketball team my senior year. I achieved All-Conference recognition twice and All-Region recognition once. At the end of my basketball career at Grinnell, I finish as the second player in school history to score over 1,000 points (1,426) and grab over 500 rebounds (614). I also hold the school record for free throws made in a career (417). Academically, I earned CoSida Academic All-District honors and earned Academic All-Conference recognition every year. In softball, I broke 15 school records in various categories and earned all-region recognition for 4 years. I received the Joyce Buck Award this year for the top senior athlete in 2 sports, and I was honored to be nominated by Grinnell College for the NCAA Woman of the Year Award. I have enjoyed every minute of my playing career, and I am excited to share my passion for basketball in Ireland!

I am honored to be selected as a Victory Scholar by the Sports Changes Life Foundation! I will be attending NUI Galway and studying business or exercise physiology. While I am excited for all aspects of the program, I am mostly looking forward to coaching and mentoring kids. Basketball has helped me establish a high work ethic and has forced me to become goal-oriented in my life. I hope that I can use my love for basketball to teach the kids about all of the life values that come out of playing sports. I would like to thank everyone at Sports Changes Life, The Rory Foundation, and everyone who is supporting me at home. I can’t wait to coach, study, and play in a new culture and beautiful country.