UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State Lady Lion basketball game this past Sunday opened with a ceremony to honor the team's senior student-athletes. This year's senior class consisted of Siyeh Frazier, Jaida Travascio-Green and grad-senior Kayleigh Semion.
Each of the seniors has had a unique journey to reach the spot they are at now.
Semion started her Penn State career as a member of the club basketball team. She then became a manager for the Lady Lions for the 2016-2017 season before earning a spot on the roster in the 2017-2018 season.
Travascio-Green came to Penn State as first team All-State player from Illinois. She immediately made an impact, making 15 starts during her freshman campaign and finishing the year ranked fourth in Penn State history in 3-pointers made for freshman. Unfortunately, a torn ACL has prevented Travascio-Green from seeing the floor this season, but despite the setback she has since become a player-coach and has continued to make an impact on the team.
Frazier, like Travascio-Green, was an All-State selection in high school from Michigan. Her impact on the team started primarily through defense, winning team Defensive Player of the Year during her sophomore season. Last year as a junior, Frazier was the team's second-leading scorer and led the team in steals. This season she is playing north of 30 minutes per game and is viewed as a leader both on and off the court. She has also stepped up on the offensive end to 12.3 points per game.
Despite each student-athlete having a different role and different experience, for head coach Carolyn Kieger, the trio has worked well together.
"Kayleigh is [about] whatever she can do to make Penn State better. Jaida is a phenomenal student, a phenomenal person, our emotional leader and always does the right thing," she said. "Siyeh, she's our defensive captain, she's our team leader. They've all taken their role and ran with it, but they do a great job of complementing each other."
The seniors were placed in a tough situation when they found out they would have a new coach for their final campaign. With just one year left at school, it would've been easy to distance themselves from the team, however Kieger says that was not the case with this group.
"[Frazier] is still like, 'Hey, what can I do, how can I impact these freshmen, how can I leave my mark on the legacy of the program?" she said. "I appreciate that."
While it's easy to focus on the on-court play, an often-overlooked aspect of providing an impact is helping your teammates get acclimated to a new environment. That's where Travascio-Green says she leaves her mark.
"Being here for four years and having the experience that I have, even in terms of just telling them where the best food spots are, not everything has to necessarily be on the court," she said. "I think just using my experience as a Penn Stater and as a student-athlete here and spreading that to provide positivity is how I've helped with the transition."
Attempting to help the future of a program you're about to leave is a noble effort, and while Kieger appreciates it, she also likes to focus on what her seniors will do after graduation.
"The thing as a coach, is you're not just building for a future here at Penn State. You're building a future for their lives," she said. "We have a lot of 'life conversations.' What does it look like next year? What does it look like when you're not playing [basketball]? How are these lessons going to help you down the road as a businesswoman or as a friend?"
The senior class' days at Penn State are numbered. Despite the season not going has hoped for, there's no taking away all the memories that time in Happy Valley brings to a student-athlete. Even with all the time and effort put into the sport, the seniors seem to value a different experience the most.
"My first few years here, we had honorary coaches come and talk to us before every game," Travascio-Green said. "They'd be like, 'My kids look up to you,' or it'd be a teacher and, 'The kids in my class love you.' It's crazy because I can go out and think I just played the worst game of my life, but there's going to be a bunch of kids who are so proud and so excited for me. It's been really cool to see that my performance here doesn't really matter. It's more the fact that I'm giving everything I have to the university and the community appreciates it. It feels good."
"I describe my entire experience as something that you learn from," Frazier said. "Everything has a purpose. Whether it was numbers, stats or wins and losses, my purpose here was something bigger than anything tangible."
There's no question that the Penn State community appreciates the work these women have put into the Lady Lion program. They've put in their time on the court and have now helped the transition of Kieger's tenure at Penn State. Each of these seniors have been through so much, and both they and the program will be better for it in years to come.
