Through uncertain times, Kelsey Ransom has been Georgetown’s cornerstone

Now in her fifth season, Ransom is the undisputed leader of the Georgetown program and one of the BIG EAST’s elite guards. Last year, as a senior, she shined brightest on the defensive end of the floor, facing up against each opponent’s toughest offensive assignment. At the end of the regular season she was recognized with BIG EAST Co-Defensive Player of the Year and First Team All-BIG EAST honors.

Ransom’s decision to return to use her fifth season of eligibility — granted to all players who competed in the 2020-21 season — speaks her to her unselfish nature and eagerness to give back to the institution that has given her so much. In particular, her closeness with head coach Darnell Haney drove her to return to campus for a final season.

“I love Georgetown and my dreams and my goals — I know the staff can get me there — and what [Coach Haney] has meant to me over the last year and continues to mean to me every single day,” Ransom told The Next. “I play for him, talk to him. … He’s not a person you want to leave, and he’s more than a coach to me. And so again, you don’t get that everywhere. And I think people, you know, they leave thinking things are gonna be better in other places. But I’m very appreciative where I am and where my feet are. And he has shown me every single day why I made the correct choice.”

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Over the past nearly half decade of her basketball career, Ransom has also planted her roots into Georgetown campus life. She’s a founding member of Hoyos, a women’s affinity group on Georgetown’s campus, and holds membership on both the NCAA Division I Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and Georgetown’s Black Student-Athlete Alliance. She’s already earned a psychology degree and is now pursuing a graduate degree in higher education administration.

While Ransom asserts that her “love” of Georgetown is why she returned, head coach Darnell Haney believes that it speaks more broadly to her as a person of tremendous character.

“I’m extremely grateful that she chose to come back and play for us. I think it shows it’s a testament to her character. It’s a testament to what she believes in,” Haney told The Next. “And she’s going to be one of the best players, if not the best player to ever play here at Georgetown; and that’s a testament to her character and her investment in Georgetown, her investment in this staff, and her investment in just her legacy here at Georgetown.”

Overcoming adversity

Despite the challenging circumstances of transiting to college during the COVID-impacted season, Ransom was an immediate contributor at Georgetown. She started each of the Hoyas’ 19 games as a freshman, leading the team in scoring with 10.5 ppg and earning a spot on the BIG EAST All-Freshman team. With 12 games either canceled or postponed, Ransom was a bright spot for a Hoyas program that struggled to a 2-17 record.

“I think, being thrown into a situation where a lot of uncertainty, a lot of unprecedented events, kind of forced me to grow up fast,” Ransom told The Next about her entry into collegiate basketball. “And I was surrounded by great teammates during that time that fostered my growth very well. And you just kind of had to be a leader very quickly. And that’s helped me in being able to lead other people.”

During her sophomore and junior seasons, Ransom continued her ascent in the conference. Her points per game have increased each season and her defensive instincts intensified. As a junior she was named a team captain and earned Honorable Mention All-BIG EAST recognition. The Hoyas steadily improved between her freshman and junior year, increasing their winning percentage each season. Still, they couldn’t break the .500 mark to achieve a winning season. After her junior season, Georgetown parted ways with then-head coach James Howard.

In Howard’s place, the Hoyas hired Tennessee Lady Vols legend Tasha Butts to lead the program. In her first head coaching job, Butts brought intention and care to the program, absolutely beaming with pride at her introductory press conference. Tragically, just months later and days before the season was set to begin, Butts passed away after a two-year battle with breast cancer.

“She translated what she learned from [former Tennessee head coach] Pat Summitt to us,” Ransom said just days after Butts’ tragic passing. “Things outside of basketball. There are standards we have as a team now where it feels wrong not doing them.”

Building off the foundation set by Butts in her few short months at the helm of the program, associate head coach Darnell Haney assumed the head coaching role on an interim basis. Guided by Haney’s leadership, Ransom’s senior season was her best season as a Hoya. She led the team in points, assists and steals while ranking in the BIG EAST’s top four for assists, top five for steals and top three for minutes played.

Part of what makes Ransom such a suffocating defender is her sheer speed and athleticism. In addition to her successful high school basketball career in New Jersey, she was also an all-conference performer in track and field. Night in and night out, she squares up against each opposing team’s toughest offensive assignment. At the end of the 2023-24 regular season she was recognized with BIG EAST Co-Defensive Player of the Year and First Team All-BIG EAST honors.

Following a winning regular season last year, she was named to the conference All-Tournament Team en route to leading the Hoyas to a program-first BIG EAST Tournament championship game appearance. By doing so, Coach Haney believes she’s cemented her own unique legacy at Georgetown, a program with such storied alumni as five-time WNBA champion Rebekkah Brunson and ESPN commentator Monica McNutt.

“In my opinion, she etched her name on the wall when we got to the BIG EAST championship,” Coach Haney said. “She etched her name on the wall when we she [was named] Defensive Player of the Year — she’s done that — and now she’s just continued to climb and climb and climb and climb, and she’s our leader.”

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‘A leader by voice’

Now, with the end of her Georgetown career just months away, Ransom is on the verge of more Hoyas history. With 496 career assists, she is just 11 dimes away from becoming the all-time program leader. The accomplishment is teeming with symbolism, as Ransom works each day to assist the next generation of Hoyas with her leadership.

“Kelsey was a leader by example; now she’s she’s been forced to be more of a leader by by voice,” Coach Haney told The Next. “And I remember a couple days ago, the head coach [of] Notre Dame football [Marcus Freeman] — he talked about he didn’t want leaders by example. He wanted leaders in all aspects. And I talked to Kelsey about that — and she had been doing this all year — but I talked to Kelsey about that, because that’s how she goes to the next level of her development as a player, as a person and as a leader, and I’m proud of how she’s been able to do that.

“We got a lot of young people on this team, and she’s been she’s done a good job of bringing them along. She’s done a good job of mentoring Victoria Rivera. She does a good job of mentoring Ariel Jenkins. She does a great job of mentoring our young people, our freshmen.”

It’s a testament to Ransom’s character that she’s used her positive experience at Georgetown to attract seven newcomers — five freshmen and two transfers — to a program she’ll leave in a few short months. She chose to use her fifth year of eligibility not only to earn an advanced degree, but also because she genuinely cares about the trajectory of the program and wants to leave it better than she found it.

“it’s just instilling gratitude in them, keeping their love for the game as best as I can, because everyone goes to their own experiences, and you can only put a hand in people’s experiences so much,” Ransom said of her mentorship of younger players. “But just giving them perspective, giving them a voice, listening to them and listening to their experience is really important because they’re growing too. I’m growing. It’s my first time in my fifth year, it’s their first time in their first year. So we’re growing together, and [I’m] letting them know that I’m there for them”

In her fifth season, Ransom continues to leave her mark on the rising BIG EAST program, while also preparing to continue her basketball career as a professional — a goal that she believes the Georgetown coaching staff can prepare her to achieve.

“I do plan on playing professionally in the [WNBA] and so again, they’re gonna try to get me where I need to be, working hard every single day to get there. … [I’m] staying present on this team, trying to figure out how we’re gonna finish the season off successfully — but definitely thinking about how I can start performing as a pro and being a pro, not just in scoring, but in defense and IQ, and I’m working with the coaches closely to up my game to a professional level.”

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Kelsey Ransom embodies an important link from the Hoyas’ past to the future that Darnell Haney envisions. She’s led her classmates and teammates through the “new normal” of post-pandemic life, the transition from head coach James Howard to Tasha Butts, and Butts’ tragic passing just months after accepting the role of Georgetown head coach. She’s helped the program improve steadily in each of her seasons, and led the program to a historic conference tournament appearance. Each step of the way, she’s led with a sense of gratitude for the place and people she believes has given her so much.

“We’re gonna get out of this thing together — win together, lose together, and none of that changes. Nothing I do is conditional.”