The Kent State women’s basketball program secured a verbal commitment for the Class of 2025 from guard Rylee Kalocay from Upper St. Clair High School in Pittsburgh.
Kalocay is a dynamic three level scorer who thrives on dishing out contact in the paint and playing physical. She’s also an excellent shooter from the three point line and very comfortable in the mid-range.
Defensively, she reads passing lanes well and is very disruptive on that end of the floor as well.
As a junior during the 2023-2024 season, Kalocay tore her ACL and meniscus in her left knee, causing her to miss the rest of the season. She was able to turn this injury into a positive, and it allowed her to grow and work on her game in different ways.
“There is no question about it, no one ever wants to experience an injury like an ACL tear that sidelines your game,” Kalocay said. “Getting hurt exposed both my mental and physical vulnerabilities. That said, it gave me the opportunity to step back and assess myself and where I want my journey to go after high school.”
She was also able to learn some lessons from her injury that will hopefully allow her to be an impact player in the Mid-American Conference.
“It has taught me resiliency. The daily grind to get myself healthy and stronger than I was before the injury was challenging at first. I frequently worked out twice a day and added in an hour of shooting once I was cleared. I have always been a very hard worker and my own worst critic but pushing myself to recover and become stronger than I have ever been has taken it to a different level.”
Starting since her freshmen year, Kalocay became just the 10th player in school history to reach 1,000 points in just three seasons.
As a sophomore in 2022-2023, Kalocay made her mark on the prep scene in Pennsylvania and put her on the radar of college coaches. Kalocay was the 6A Player of the Year for the Tribune Review High School Sports Network in addition to being on the Tribune Review Terrific Ten. She was also named to the Post-Gazette Fab 5, just the 11th sophomore in 43 years to be named to that team. She was named third team All-State and was a Miss PA. Basketball nominee, among many other accolades.
Kalocay, who chose the Flashes over around a dozen offers, was drawn to Kent State for several reasons, not just a basketball program that is still basking in the glow of their first trip to the NCAA Tournament in 22 years.
“The coaching staff is top notch. The team has been so welcoming and I feel like I will fit in perfectly with them. I am coming in as a business major so the new business school was also a huge draw from an academic perspective.”
As one of the top guards in Pennsylvania, she expects to make an impact for Head Coach Todd Starkey. “I will be a combo guard. They are expecting me to be a scorer and a facilitator. My goal is to be an impact player from day one.”
Kalocay, who may have a future in sport media someday, started doing a weekly podcast with the Tribune Review High School Sports Network to break down the game while she was injured.
In addition to that, she coaches youth basketball and runs local basketball camps at Shoot 360, while also working with children with special needs and incorporating them into sports.
For now, she is gearing up for her senior year to continue to make her mark on the record books and help lead her team to more winning. But Kent State’s got next, and they have added another quality person and player to their program that is already filled with top notch people.
“I could not be more excited. There is such a positive vibe with the team and a ton of momentum going into this season. I cannot wait to be a part of it.”