For Isabella Casey, playing basketball at Bucknell was always a dream. With her father being a basketball alumnus from the university and athletics being a prominent part of her family life, the sophomore has shown true dedication and perseverance as she moved from a preferred walk-on to a starter and significant role player in just one season.
“I came from an athletic family and I always just loved sports,” said Casey. “I grew up playing every sport you could think of and I always really liked basketball, but I wasn't sure what would be my main sport up until probably high school when I decided basketball was it.”
Alongside basketball, Casey competed in both soccer and track at Germantown Academy. Soccer was a sport, much like basketball, that she found through family culture. With her mother being from Brazil, playing soccer was natural for Casey. While she ended up going with basketball as the sport she would play in college, she still carries the Brazilian culture from her mothers side of the family with her as a dual citizen.
The Radnor, Pa. native had dreamed of going to college at Bucknell ever since she was about five years old because of her father’s connection to the school being a constant in her youth.
“My dad went here, so I grew up coming to the school every single year to watch basketball games or even just coming to see the campus with my family,” said Casey. “I always looked up to the players so much and wanted to be like them. I wasn't really sure if it was a realistic goal or not, but I always kept Bucknell in the back of my mind while I was going through recruiting.”
During her senior year of high school, the dream of playing collegiate basketball at Bucknell became more of a reality as Casey came to Lewisburg for a visit and learned that she would have the opportunity to be a preferred walk-on on the women’s basketball team.
“Once I heard that I was able to get a spot on the team, I was pretty much set on it,” said Casey. “My dad was also super happy for me and fully supported my decision to come here. I probably could have gone somewhere else, maybe like a smaller school where I would have been expected to play more, but he fully supported my decision to commit to Bucknell and he really had my back through it all because he had such a great experience here.”
A major reason that Casey chose to come to Bucknell, beyond her family ties and fond childhood memories, was because of how close she would be to her family and support systems.
“I wanted to be somewhat close to home because I love having support at my games and being able to go home here and there. Being at Bucknell, my family gets to a lot of games and even some of my high school coaches have come to games which is awesome. All of that support that means so much to me probably wouldn't be possible if I went to school further from home.”
After arriving at Bucknell in 2024, Casey began putting in the work to earn playing time. During her freshman campaign, she saw limited game action as a walk-on on a solid squad. She played minutes in 23 games and averaged 1.3 points per game and 0.8 rebounds per game. This season with the Bison, her role has significantly shifted towards being a leader as a starter that plays major minutes in every game and is a main contributor both offensively and defensively. So far, Casey has started in 23-of-24 games this season and has played almost 700 minutes. The sophomore currently averages eight points per game and four rebounds per game. She also has recorded six blocks and 20 steals on the season.
“It's definitely gone differently than I expected coming in,” said Casey. “I didn't really have super high expectations, but I was constantly being told to stay ready because you never know what can happen and with a lot of injuries and different types of circumstances, my time came and I think when it did, I did a good job of just taking the opportunity that I got.”
While her playing journey at Bucknell went differently than she may have thought when she signed onto the team as a preferred walk-on, it has actually been very similar to her high school playing experience.
“It reminds me a lot of my high school basketball career because when I was a freshman, I didn't really play at all and then my sophomore year I kind of came into a bigger role,” said Casey. “We had a really young team, so I had to be more of a leader which is why I think my high school basketball career kind of prepared me for this.”
Despite being prepared and making the most of her opportunities each and every day on the court to continuously earn her spot, there are still areas where Casey wants to improve throughout the remainder of her career with the Bison.
“I would like to continue to grow as a vocal leader,” said Casey. “I think I've always been more of a lead by example kind of person and I’ve shied away from being very vocal and outspoken on the court, so that's something that I want to improve upon moving forward.”
With an up and down 2025-26 season, the sophomore has been working on her vocal leadership by trying to be a voice of positivity for the team in any situation.
“When you're winning, it's kind of easy to show up every day to practice because everyone's happy and content, but when you're losing, it can be really hard to show up every day with a good attitude,” said Casey. “My goal has really been to just show up and be the person that is keeping the energy high with high fives and a positive voice and just continue to work hard, no matter the outcome. I want to express that when you really give up is when you stop trying or don't give 100% effort all the time.”
Through almost two full years at Bucknell and with her team, Casey credits the best parts of her experience to the friendships that she has made along the way.
“The friends I have made on this team are the kinds of friendships that I know will last forever,” said Casey. “I've met some of my best friends, just some incredible people and they're girls that I've gone through both highs and lows with and been able to stick together through it all, which is really important to me. No matter how basketball is going, I can rely on them to pick them up on those tough days which is what it's all about.”
One of the bigger moments that shed a spotlight on the sophomore guard in 2026 came in the Bison’s contest with Colgate where she knocked down a game-winning three to earn Bucknell its first conference win of the season. After the Bison brought the game within one point towards the end of the fourth quarter, Tuana Coskun missed a three, but Elena Houghton came up with a tough offensive board to allow Coach Woodruff to call a timeout and draw up a play. Out of the timeout, Coskun, who the play was drawn up for, drew multiple defenders and then chose to pass the ball to Casey on the corner who threw it up with 18 seconds left in regulation and drained what ended up being a game-winning three for the Bison.
“I think we all trust the work that we put in together and we see how hard each other works every day,” said Casey. “Every single girl on our team trusts each other to take that shot, I mean, I trusted Tuana to take it so when I got the ball I just had to not think about it in the moment, trust all the work and the extra shooting I've done and knock it down.”
Everyone enjoyed watching that moment on the court because it exemplifies the thrill of live sports. Hitting a game-winning three-pointer in your home stadium to win your first conference game of the season isn’t something that you could predict and being able to experience that feeling is why people are so drawn to athletics. Casey herself being one of those people, despite how much she is around sport.
“I'm actually a big supporter of watching other sports,” said Casey. “Basically anything that has to do with sports, I love. I'm a huge fan of all of the Bucknell sports teams too. In the fall my teammates and I went to pretty much one game from every single sports team here and even in-season we’ve gotten to wrestling and some men's games too.”
Balancing athletics and supporting the other programs by going to more events, alongside trying to maintain a social life and the high academic standards of Bucknell may seem difficult, but for Casey, she feels like she was ready for the chaos thanks to her experiences in high school.
“Playing a sport in the fall, winter and spring along with playing AAU definitely taught me how to time-manage because I was always at school pretty late every night, staying for practice or for games,” said Casey. “I think that definitely prepared me for college because basketball here is pretty much the whole year too, so it's very similar.”
The sophomore decided to major in political science at Bucknell and one of the reasons that she has had such a positive experience academically, has been because of the interesting course selection the major provides coupled with the supportive professors that she is surrounded by.
“It's definitely a lot balancing academics with basketball and trying to have a social life as well, but the professors are super helpful and they're very understanding of the student athletes here,” said Casey. “They're willing to meet outside of class to help us with all the stuff that we miss since we have to miss so much being on the road during conference play too which is really nice. I'm not sure what I want to do yet with political science, but the classes I've taken have been super interesting and I think there is definitely a wide range of things that you can do with a political science degree. Some of my other teammates are political science majors too and they love it so much.”
As a sophomore with a couple of collegiate years still ahead of her, Casey has plenty of time to figure out her career path and grow both on and off of the court. The current focus for the Pennsylvania native are the final five games of the regular season leading up to the Patriot League playoffs.
From a little girl in the stands watching basketball games at her fathers alma mater to a leader whose voice is only growing louder each day on the court, Isabella Casey is ready to take on any challenges that come her way as she continues to write her own Bison legacy.
Bison Club support is the driving force behind Bucknell Athletics. Your donations directly impact the holistic development of student-athletes from 27 Division I varsity programs who are building a foundation at Bucknell to become leaders and difference-makers around the globe. Make your gift online, or call 570-577-1771 to support your favorite Bison team. 'ray Bucknell!