By Tom Robinson, NEPASportsNation.com
Kylie Lavelle has left Pennsylvania’s biggest city for its largest college campus.
Lavelle finalized her transfer plans Tuesday, selecting Penn State University for the next stop in her academic and women’s basketball careers.
The three-time, all-stater from Riverside, Hoop Group Showcase League all-star with the NEPA Elite 17U Clark AAU team and Colonial Athletic Association All-Rookie Team selection at Drexel University in Philadelphia will move up the basketball ladder to the Big Ten Conference.
“Location, coaching staff, team,” Lavelle said, listing the reasons for her decision. “It was the best fit for me.”
Lavelle entered the transfer portal soon after Drexel’s season ended.
Her availability after a successful freshman season at Drexel led to interest from “about 50” Division I programs.
After also visiting Syracuse and St. John’s, Lavelle chose Penn State.
Although thankful for the number of schools that reached out, Lavelle acknowledged that “it was stressful at times.” She is switching from being a health science major at Drexel to majoring in kinesiology at Penn State.
Lavelle moves from the mid-major level of National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I basketball to a Power Five conference where she hopes to play a similar role as she did at Drexel. After playing every position in high school, often playing point guard for the Lady Vikes, the 6-foot-2 Lavelle was a starting forward from her first day at Drexel.
Since finishing up classes at Drexel, Lavelle has been working out at Riverfront Sports in Scranton, home of the NEPA Elite team, trying to develop different ways to get more shots off.
At Drexel, Lavelle hit 45.8 percent from the floor, 32.5 percent from 3-point range and 75.0 percent from the free throw line while averaging 11.1 points in 21.0 minutes per game. She also averaged 3.7 rebounds.
Lavelle was named Rookie of the Week in the CAA four times, including to begin her career and in the final week of the regular season. She shot 65.4 percent from the floor while averaging 20.5 points and 6.0 in rebounds in her first four college games before missing time with injury and playing less, though still starting, after her return.
Penn State went 4-12 in the Big Ten and 14-17 overall in the 2022-23 season. It won a first-round Big Ten Tournament game over Minnesota before having the season end with a 63-61 loss to Michigan.
At Penn State, Lavelle will be reunited with Dunmore graduate and former NEPA Elite teammate Moriah Murray.
They had been scheduled to play together at Drexel before a health scare led to Murray missing a year of basketball and withdrawing from school to reconsider her college plans. She chose a scholarship offer from Penn State and enrolled after the New Year.
During her high school career, Lavelle was a three-time, Class 3A, first-team all-state selection at Riverside. Her AAU career was highlighted by a second-team Hoop Group Showcase League selection and won two HGSL titles while playing alongside Murray.
