A lot of collegiate basketball players start playing when they are young, and for senior Alyssa Gillin, it is no different. Since she was in first grade, basketball was always at the forefront of her mind.
“I played softball for a couple of years, but I quit in middle school to focus on basketball,” Gillin said.
And the choice to come to Slippery Rock was just as easy as choosing basketball. Not only did she love the campus and engineering program SRU had to offer, but there was a more personal aspect to it, too.
“It’s close to home for me,” she said. “It was the perfect distance.”
In her freshman year, she appeared in 21 games, racking up a total of 66 points.
Another main reason Gillin picked SRU was because of the coach who recruited her, Bobby McGraw.
“I just loved how he ran his program,” she said.
After freshman year, she went through what no student athlete is ever prepared for: the loss of a coach.
Not only was she dealing with the grief of a mentor, but during the sophomore year preseason, she broke her femur, which required surgery.
“I got a rod and four screws put in my leg,” she said.
Gillin was out for the whole year.
Going through challenges like that, some people would use it as an excuse to quit. Gillin turned it into drive.
“It just shows how much I love basketball,” Gillin said. “It shows my strength and also my determination.”
The summer between her sophomore and junior year, she worked hard to build back her strength and speed.
“She comes back and works herself into a starting position,” head coach Ryenn Micaletti said. “[She] couldn’t walk four months ago, and now all of a sudden…You know, she did the work.”
Gillin is one to put in the effort without being asked. Always in the gym, putting up the shots for extra practice, she will do what it takes to be the best she can be.
“She is very coachable. Any sort of direction you give her, whether it’s structural or constructive, she responds with the utmost respect,” Micaletti said. “She’s a coach’s dream.”
And all that work after her injury paid off when she had the comeback story of the season.
Gillin played 26 games in her junior year, starting in 24 of them. She tallied 184 points, as well as 32 three-pointers, and 14 free throws.
Micaletti sees Gillin’s physical and mental strengths as one of her biggest improvements.
“It’s been beautiful to watch,” he said.
Coming back from an injury like that is not easy.
“It was really challenging. But in the end, it changed my perspective,” Gillin said. “I was a little bit behind physically, but it helped me more emotionally.”
Another big improvement Gillin has noticed is her confidence. As a freshman, she was shy and quiet, as many are. But as the years went on, she grew into the athlete she is today.
“I’ve definitely become more outgoing. I talk a lot more in practice and games,” Gillin said.
“Her ability to voice what the team needs. Whether it’s strategy or directives… It has been one of my biggest and favorite things that has grown about her,” Micaletti said.
Wearing the jersey carries the same meaning for the senior as it did four years ago, a symbol of her determination and drive. No matter what, she shows up for her team.
“I faced so much adversity my freshman year. But I think it shows what I’ve been through, what my team’s been through,” Gillin said.
That kind of passion only has positive effects on any team she is a part of. She is what Micaletti calls a quiet storm.
“When Alyssa gets going, we know that we’re in good shape,” Micaletti said. “I also think our team naturally plays better when she’s on the floor.”
While one person can make all the difference, basketball is still a team sport. No one knows that more than Gillin. In fact, that is the biggest takeaway from her collegiate career.
“You can’t win a basketball game with just one person,” Gillin said.
Her teammates are some of her biggest role models.
“Every single one of them pushed me every day,” Gillin said.
Another important role model in her athletic career resides in her hometown Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball coach, Coach Miller.
He is what some might call a local legend.
“He was around 75 years old, running up and down the court coaching, like he never stops,” Gillin said.
Even now, as a senior, her mentors followed her through her career.
Gillin is finishing up her senior year at The Rock, and she is leaving a mark. She ranks sixth in SRU history in blocks and 16th in three-pointers made. She has started in every game this season so far.
She has already surpassed her total points scored from last season, totaling 238 this year. En route to those points, she has shot 60% from the charity stripe.
Like every player, she makes mistakes. It is how she deals with it that sets her apart from other athletes.
“She’s hard on herself, but she doesn’t stay down for very long,” Micaletti said. “She responds with an ‘I need to get better’ type of attitude.”
This attitude is the legacy she is leaving here at SRU, but it is only part of it.
“She’s a quiet leader, but, nonetheless, a leader who leads by example,” Micaletti continues. “She’s a great teammate. She’s one of the most coachable athletes I’ve had in fifteen years of doing this. I give her all A’s.”
If there is one piece of advice Gillin lives by, it is to just play your hardest.
“Give it everything you have, because you only get so many years to do it. I know firsthand that you can get injured and, luckily, I was able to come back from that, but some people don’t,” Gillin said.
While this is her senior year at SRU, Gillin has plans to return to the court for her graduate year.
“This might not be the last of her,” Micaletti said.
