Senior Spotlight: Ally Giannakarios, Penn State Brandywine
Welcome to our Senior Spotlight series. In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, the PSUAC had to cancel its fall and winter sport seasons. This prevented several student-athletes from receiving a proper senior day and minimized opportunities for Player of the Week awards. In its place, we will highlight seniors from around the conference throughout the remainder of the semester.
See more Senior Spotlight highlights on our Twitter (@psuac) and Instagram (psuac)!
Name: Ally Giannakarios
Campus: Brandywine
Primary Sport: Women's Basketball
Primary Position: Forward
Hometown: Brookhaven
High School: Sun Valley
Major: Psychology
Academic Achievements: PSUAC Academic 2018-2019; PSUAC Academic 2019-2020; USCAA All-Academic Team 2018-2019; USCAA All-Academic Team 2019-2020; Deans List Sophomore, Junior & Senior year; GPA: 3.64
Additional Info: Captain Junior & Senior Year
How did your Penn State education prepare you for life after graduation? Penn State set the groundwork for everything I want to continue studying after my time at Penn State.
How do you hope to be remembered by teammates and coaches? I hope to be remembered as fun & hardworking by my teammates.
What is your favorite memory from playing your sport at Penn State? Meeting my life-long friends & taking overnight trips with the team.
What is the best advice you ever received from a coach or teammate that you would share with other student-athletes? Do not take to your time as a student athlete for granted. I never thought I’d never not be playing basketball anymore, & what makes it even worse is that COVID cut my time as a student athlete down even faster than I expected.
What are you most looking forward to post graduation? Or in your transition to University Park (or other campus) to finish your degree? After graduation, I plan to work as a BHT (Behavioral Health Technician) as I work to get my masters at West Chester University for Clinical & Mental Health Counseling.
What are some of the tools or skills that you learned through all the years of playing your sport that you plan to instill once you enter the workforce? Some skills I’ve learned is to keep working even when things get hard & to be open to others opinions.
Please use this space to thank anyone you wish to acknowledge for their support during your academic and athletic career. I want to thank my parents, coaches, & professors for always motivating me & pushing me to keep working harder whether it was in the classroom or on the basketball court.