Women’s Basketball Captain Achieves Dream of Going Pro

On the back of the door in Graceann Bennett’s childhood bedroom is a sheet of construction paper that lists her goals in crayons. 

1. Make the AAU basketball team. 
2. Get a scholarship and play in college.
3. Play pro in Spain. 
4. Play in the Olympics. 

Ten years later, Bennett (B’23, G’24) has graduated from Georgetown’s School of Continuing Studies with her master’s in sports management after serving as the captain of the women’s basketball team. This fall, she’ll go pro in Europe. She hasn’t played in the Olympics—yet.

On paper, she’s hit her goals. But her journey to them has been anything but straightforward. 

“I had incredible things happen and tragic things,” she said. “But I got to do it in a place and with people who loved me unconditionally. I can’t imagine landing anywhere else than here, both in celebration and in grief.”

This is the story of Bennett’s wins and losses, of how she faced the unexpected and still drove toward who and what she wanted to be. 

Really, it’s a story about love and basketball. Just not in the way you think.