Bishop Dwenger basketball star Kayliana Hammel has signed her letter of intent to attend Holy Cross College in Notre Dame, IN. She held a public signing at the Parkview Sportone Fieldhouse in Fort Wayne.
“It feels good because, I’ve been waiting for this all summer long,” Hammel said. “So to finally actually do it and know I’m actually committed feels great.”
Hammel plans to major in Biology and pursue a career in dentistry. She wasn’t considering many other schools before she chose Holy Cross. There were multiple reasons she chose to go there.
“I liked Holy Cross the most because I can have the small college atmosphere, but then have [the University of] Notre Dame right across the street,” Hammel said. “And [head] Coach [Tom] Robbins is a great coach too, so that sold me.”
Holy Cross is approximately two hours away from the Fort Wayne area. Hammel appreciates that she won’t have too long of a drive when she wants to visit home.
“I’m a big homebody, so to be able to drive just two hours back home is really great,” Hammel said.
Hammel got an opportunity to meet the Holy Cross women’s basketball team at a game that she attended. She is expecting to play shooting guard in college.
“They have a lot of point guards, so I can bring in the shooting guard aspect and really bring that to the team,” Hammel said.
Hammel has enjoyed her basketball experience in the Fort Wayne area. She played key minutes at Dwenger and has also had experience with Always 100 Basketball. Playing college basketball has been a dream of hers for quite some time.
“I’ve been working hard at [making that dream come true] for hours with Vernard [Hollins of Always 100] and my AAU coach and all my other coaches,” Hammel said. “So to be actually able to do it is great.”
As much as Hammel has enjoyed her basketball career, there are still some aspects of her game that she hopes to improve on.
“I hope to bring up my shooting percentages because I’ve been a little shaky [and] not consistent with my scoring, so I hope that improves,” Hammel said.
Holy Cross students are allowed to take some of their classes at Saint Mary’s College (in Notre Dame, IN) and the University of Notre Dame (in nearby South Bend). Hammel plans to take some of her classes at UND.
“I’ll definitely be taking some classes at Notre Dame because I already have college credit built up, so that’s going to be nice to take that,” Hammel said.
