“This is my Happy Place.”
Enjulina Gonzalez was born in the sunshine state with beautiful beaches and big shopping malls. Now in Happy Valley, she’s getting used to the Central Pennsylvania environment.
Playing at Penn State is an opportunity to continue her passion for basketball, that she also plans to pursue professionally after college. That’s her main focus for the 2026-27 season.
Gonzalez’s journey in the sport started later than usual. Even though she was always interested in basketball, she never saw any other girls playing.
“It was hard for me to just envision myself playing it,” Gonzalez said.
She started with flag football and soccer. However, when she got to high school, she started casually playing basketball, “just for fun,” as she described.
When she saw a flyer for a try-out for a girls’ basketball team, she took the chance.
After playing for a year, the guard made the roster for a travel team during the summer. That’s when she knew she wanted to pursue basketball more seriously.
“That's when I was like, ‘okay, I actually enjoy doing this every day and working out every single day trying to get better.’ I really enjoyed the process of just seeing myself progress and constantly getting one percent better every day,” Gonzalez said.
The graduate student attended Mercer for two years, followed by Miami Ohio and Georgia, before arriving at Happy Valley.
Gonzalez is not the only team addition that came from the University of Georgia. Olivier Cadet, Lady Lions’ assistant coach and video coordinator, was an assistant coach and director of skill development with the Bulldogs. The guard mentioned that, seeing he was coming to program as well, influenced her decision.
“The coaching staff does a great job of pushing you, keeping you accountable and treating you like adults. They're great at just being people outside of the sport and being there for you no matter what,” Gonzalez said. “I'm in awe, I have no complaints. I'm just excited to be here.”
Her relationship with her faith also played an important role in her decision.
“I prayed about it a lot. I feel like God made my answer so clear that no other decision, no other school could’ve been it, it was always Penn State,” Gonzalez said.
The guard recognizes that this season she is stepping into a new role as one of the veterans in the team. However, she’s ready to take those responsibilities with the support from the coaching staff, especially with the vision from head coach Tanisha Wright.
Gonzalez has high expectations and goals for this year, and her focus is to achieve those alongside her teammates.
“We're the foundation of what Coach T is building,” Gonzalez said. “I'm just excited to be that for her in a way. We want to play in March Madness. We want to bring Penn State back to where it was, little by little.”