UAlbany’s Kaci Donovan making final postseason run with Great Danes

When UAlbany’s Kaci Donovan takes the floor, the graduate forward’s offensive versatility is always on full display.

“The adjustment was really quick,” Donovan said. “This team feels like my family. And I’m really blessed and thankful I get to end my career here as a Great Dane at Albany.”

The 6’1” transfer from Monmouth has been a crucial part of the Great Danes’ success this season – second on the team in points and third in rebounds.

“Being a COVID kid, kind of lucky, kind of not, we got that extra year, and I took the opportunity and I came here and I’m really happy I made that decision,” she said.

Her ability to do it all is what made Donovan a big-time recruit coming out of Owego Free Academy in the Southern Tier, where she’s the all-time leading scorer with 1,974 points.

“I started basketball when I was probably like five or six. My dad kind of picked up that sport. He would shoot around, so I’d kind of watch him and shoot around, and I really liked it. And that was the one sport I picked once I got to middle school,” Donovan said.

She started her collegiate career at Penn State – her father’s alma mater. After a year with the Nittany Lions, Donovan transferred to Monmouth where she was an All-Conference player, helping lead the Hawks to the NCAA tournament in 2023.

“One of the assistant coaches I was closest with at Penn State took the head coach job at Monmouth,” Donovan said. “So I was really thankful I got to play for three years.”

But after three years at Monmouth, she was ready for a change. Somewhere she could win and be a little closer to home, which is what drew her to UAlbany.

“I’ve definitely had family members come to my games that I’ve never had come to my games,” she said. “Having the close game at Binghamton, it was a really nice opportunity for a lot of my family members to come, and friends that I haven’t seen in a really long time.”

This past week, Donovan helped Great Danes win the America East Regular-Season title. As the top seed, UAlbany will host the conference tournament. Donovan and the other seniors are hoping to get back to the NCAA tournament one final time.

“I think it’s everything. And over half of us, it’s our last year of playing, and we’re doing it for each other and it’s just huge that hopefully we can experience that in our last year,” Donovan said.

UAlbany takes on eighth-seeded New Hampshire in the America East quarterfinal at the Broadview Center at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.