When Olivia Nagy ‘22 first stepped foot on the basketball court at John Carroll University four years ago, she probably wouldn’t have believed that their team would score over 100 points against Heidelberg in her senior season.  

The Feb. 1 Heidelberg blowout joins a list of several other games this season where John Carroll defeated their opponent by more than 25 points, as they seek their third Ohio Athletic Conference Championship in four years.

While blowouts give John Carroll’s younger players a chance to play, when the game is competitive, there isn’t anyone more crucial than Nagy

On Jan. 19, 2022, John Carroll competed against the Baldwin Wallace Yellow Jackets in their biggest game of the season that was filled with many momentum swings. It was a back-and-forth game until John Carroll took the lead for good with 4:47 left to play. You could tell the team needed a leader and Nagy delivered with her ball-hawking defense. 

Nagy’s stellar performance in the Baldwin Wallace game is one of the many times she displayed how talented she is, as she delivered 16 points, 13 rebounds, and most importantly, 6 blocks to lead John Carroll to a 68-65 victory over Baldwin Wallace. 

“We knew we had to step up our defense,” said Nagy. “If they make a big play and we make a mistake, we just keep going and keep playing as hard as we can, and we did that tonight.”

 It’s a second thought that she turned to defense because she grew up playing soccer as a defensive midfield. The Nagy residence was dominated by soccer players. Her father played soccer his entire life, her twin brother just finished his playing career at Baldwin Wallace and her younger brother is currently playing soccer there as well. 

She may have very well ended up on the John Carroll soccer team if it wasn’t for her uncle asking her to play for his youth basketball team in 6th grade.

As surprising as it is, things didn’t start off strong for her basketball career. 

“I air-balled a three-wide of the basket,” admitted Nagy. 

Yet she didn’t let that stop her as she continued to play and eventually found her way on the Lakewood Rangers, her high school’s varsity team. While on the Rangers, Nagy’s offense wasn’t quite up to what it is today.

“My offense didn’t come around until my junior and senior year [of High School].” 

It was her defense that made her fall in love with the game. Her relentless effort on defense showed her true character as a team player who didn’t care about how many points she had. 

As her high school career came to an end, Nagy was recruited by former Blue Streaks Head Coach Kelly Morrone. While being recruited,  Nagy was leaning toward attending the University of Mount Union, John Carroll’s biggest rival. However, Nagy’s mother convinced her to visit John Carroll. Her mom had spent one year at John Carroll on the volleyball team and always wanted a daughter to return there to finish where she had left off. 

When Nagy visited JCU, she immediately fell in love with the campus, community, business school and players.

At the time, the Blue Streak players were very supportive and welcomed her with open arms. The camaraderie and team spirit are what made the team gel so much during her freshman year as they transitioned immediately from mediocre to champions.

During Nagy’s freshman year at John Carroll, the team went from 8-18 in 2017-2018, to 22-7 and OAC champions in the 2018-2019 season. 

Despite Nagy’s efforts freshman year, she believes her teammates were the biggest factor in the turnaround. “We had the senior experience and along with Abby Adler and Nicole Heffington plus the combination of all of us being there made us work hard together.” 

That year, Nagy took home one of the game’s most prestigious honors as the OAC Defensive Player of the Year. 

“​​Defense has always been my favorite part of the game, especially in high school. It is where I stood out… I love doing it and I love helping out my teammates.” 

While the defense was her first love, Nagy’s offensive numbers have skyrocketed the last few years. 

Nagy went from averaging 7.8 points per game her freshman year to 15.9 per game her sophomore year, to 13.9 her junior year and 15.5 points per game this season. 

While Nagy has become one of the top scorers for John Carroll, she still understands that defense is the key to winning important games.

“Everyone wants to shine on offense, but if you don’t have a good solid defense, then you’re not going to win,” said Nagy. 

This team-first mindset has led Nagy to win three straight OAC Defensive Player of the Year awards, and she is well on her way to winning her fourth.

As Nagy is nearing the end of her senior season, she plans on transitioning from a tenacious defender to a diligent accountant as she has already landed a job at PricewaterhouseCooper, a Big Four accounting firm. 

While fans won’t necessarily see her on the court, she still plans on coaching basketball at some level. PWC will benefit from her team spirit and work ethic, but John Carroll will certainly miss her dominating presence on the court.