Recently, the AHA girls basketball program was honored to have alumna and former Cornell and UMN star Laura Bagwell Katalinich ’16 return to the program as a part of the coaching staff for the beginning of the 2024-2025 season. Bagwell Katalinich took on the role of head JV and assistant Varsity coach. She has helped her JV team to secure a 3-3 record and a 6-1 record for varsity, both strong starts to the season.
Bagwell Katalinich had quite the basketball career at AHA, ending her Stars career with a state championship win. She moved on from AHA to play a year at University of Pennsylvania, entered the transfer portal to finish off her undergraduate career at Cornell University, and returned home to play two grad school seasons at University of Minnesota. Coming off of injuries sustained during her time at UMN, Bagwell Katalinich took some time away from basketball and realized how much she missed being around the sport,and not just as a player. “I realized that I enjoy working with people who want to play basketball,” Bagwell Katalinich said.
It’s a very different role from player to coach. “It’s been fun to see the team from a new perspective, not as a player.” Bagwell Katalinich is looking to continue her career in sport, and AHA has been a great community to gain further coaching experiences. Coming back and coaching alongside her old coaches feels “the same, but different.”
“It’s ultimately the same goal of improving with each game and, as Coach Woods says, putting the ball in the hoop” so there’s a comforting familiarity to the program, Bagwell Katalinich emphasizes. “It is different being on the sidelines, but in a good way.”
Bagwell Katalinich has seen a lot of success in her basketball career. Leaving her senior season with a state championship win, Bagwell Katalinich felt proud of the work she put into her final year and enjoyed seeing the then six-year state appearance streak for the program. “Senior season was great,” Bagwell Katalinich notes, but “it was more satisfying to see” the continued success of the program. Moving on to college, Bagwell Katalinich played a year at UPenn and then headed to Cornell where she led her team in both scoring and rebounds, and led the Ivy League in free-throw percentage for two consecutive years, graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications. At UMN, Bagwell Katalinich made appearances in 41 games and scored her 1,000th career point, while receiving Master’s degrees in Sport Management and Marketing.
So what’s next for the former Star? Bagwell Katalinich is headed abroad to New Zealand where she has accepted a position working at one of their basketball leagues. She will specialize in marketing and communication, as well as working directly with communities to generate excitement for the sport. “Basketball is a very new sport in New Zealand, so things like AAU or off-season basketball aren’t developed to the same extent that they are in the U.S.,” Bagwell Katalinich states. “I’m really excited to try and help basketball grow… especially among young girls and women.”
No matter where Bagwell Katalinich goes, AHA will always have a place for her, and the coaches and athletes within the girl’s basketball program will support her in all that she does.
