D-III Made: Jordan Basso Turns Gettysburg Experience into Florida Dream

Like most youth lacrosse players, Florida attacker Jordan Basso had fleeting thoughts of playing for the sport’s blue bloods.

“Everyone is set on [North Carolina and Maryland] early on,” Basso said. “I was just like, ‘Oh, I like Carolina Blue.’”

Truth be told, Basso didn’t know what she wanted — who does as a tween (or adult, if we’re being honest)? Basso ultimately began her collegiate career at Division III Gettysburg. She won’t be wearing Carolina Blue this weekend. Instead, Basso will be a part of a Florida contingent hoping to upend the Tar Heels’ perfect season when the Gators play UNC in a national semifinal Friday at 3 p.m. at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.

Basso kept an open mind during the recruiting process and was still undecided when the clock struck midnight on Sept. 1 of her junior year in high school.

“I was still choosing between Division I and Division III schools,” Basso said. “It wasn’t like, ‘Oh, I have to go Division I and have a cool name on my shirt.’ I knew I could make it work if I really wanted to, but I also felt I could have gone Division I for the shirt and never fulfilled what I saw in myself.”

Basso considered “at least 53 schools” during the process, including Holy Cross and Rutgers. But she decided on Gettysburg after walking on campus and meeting Carol Cantele, the legendary coach who led the program to three NCAA championships.

“I get to campus and Carol Calente gives me this warm hug,” Basso said. “She tells this huge story, and it’s not, ‘Oh, we’ll take you.’ Instead, it’s, ‘Oh, well take you and make you into something.’”

But it wasn’t just “we’ll make you into a lacrosse player.” 

In the late 2010s, the drumbeat around women’s professional lacrosse (and women’s professional sports) was much softer than it is now in the Caitlin Clark-Charlotte North eras. Basso wanted a place where she could grow as a human and set herself up for life after lacrosse. Gettysburg — and the more holistic approach to college she could take as a Division III student-athlete — offered that opportunity. Basso worked a campus job in the equipment room, joined a sorority and took advantage of opportunities the coaching staff set up for the team, like bringing in career counselors and representatives from non-profit organizations like the One Love Foundation and HEADStrong Foundation.

“We wouldn't just go through the motion of anything,” Basso said. “We could be all-in committed to something, whatever we were doing. It shaped the person I am today.”

Basso also succeeded on the lacrosse field. She tallied 360 points on 228 goals and 132 assists during her time at Gettysburg, helping the program reach the Division III national championship game as a junior in 2023 and earning All-American status. 

Following that season, Basso decided she didn’t want to stop playing after her true senior season in 2024.

“After we went to the national championship game, I was like, ‘I'm not ready to be done,’” Basso said. “I entered the transfer portal, and my coaches had my back. I said, ‘Let’s see what comes into the mail.’ My big thing was that I wanted something completely opposite of what I had experienced. I loved Gettysburg so much, but I wanted something out of my comfort zone.”

It’s hard to get much different than Florida — a school with a Power 5 conference football team. Between the tailgating and crowds, Saturdays in Gainesville are like Thanksgiving and a rock concert rolled into one, multiple times per fall. 

Scrolling through the athletic department staff directory feels like spending time on BuzzFeed — it has no stopping point.

“I was just blown away by the enormity of the school, seeing the football stadium and the dining hall and like all of the resources we had available to us,” Basso said. “That’s one of the discrepancies between Division I and Division III — the resources. It was completely different than anything I had ever experienced.”

Mission accomplished. Yet Florida women’s lacrosse was a bit resource-strapped, personnel-wise, after losing its top four scorers from its 2024 final four team, including lefty attacker Maggi Hall.

“We had some good young kids on the team, but we thought it was important to see if we could find a veteran lefty who could fit our culture and system — someone we felt could play at this level,” Florida assistant coach Regy Thorpe said.

Thorpe saw Basso’s name in the portal, watched her film and looked at her stats at Gettysburg. They spoke on the phone for an hour.

“He didn’t sugarcoat it,” Basso said. “He was like, ‘Nothing is going to come easy, and we’re not going to hand everything to you on a silver platter. But if you are willing to put in the work, you can have success at any Division.’”

Basso appreciated the honesty, toured the campus in October and committed to the challenge. She immediately had a fan in her new head coach, Amanda O’Leary.

“Jordan is one of those phenomenal athletes,” O’Leary said. “We talk a lot about Division II and Division III student-athletes, and there are a ton that can play Division I, and for whatever reason, [choose something different]. She’s a prime example of one of those individuals who could have come to Division I and excelled tremendously but chose a different path. I think that’s exciting.”

But Basso’s inner critic got loud in the early going in Gainesville.

“They were coming off a final four last year, and there was a lot of pressure stepping into the program not knowing anyone,” Basso said. “I’m not an outgoing person, and I was jumping in there trying to learn how everyone plays. One of the big differences between Division III and Division I is the physicality of it. It’s more intense, and there’s more of a time commitment. I had to lock in, put in the extra work and reps and rework my schedule. It was definitely an adjustment.”

Basso also had to rework her brain. She did, and in the process, began to do precisely what she set out to do when she chose to attend a Division I school with a brand-name athletics department (and cool shirts).

“I forced myself out of my comfort zone,” Basso said. “I put myself in vulnerable situations, like raising my hand and asking questions in the middle of a practice. I had to embrace these awkward situations head-on because I only have one year. I don’t want to waste time.”

Basso has come through. She established herself as Florida’s quarterback and is second on the team in assists (38) and points (74). 

Thorpe said Basso is still quiet, but her words carry weight in huddles, and her voice has been crucial to Florida’s run this May.

“As we’ve gotten thicker into the playoffs, we needed the voice of reason to calm us down and finish situations,” Thorpe said. “Having her presence and a few words of wisdom has been great for us.”

Basso has also let her stick do the talking. With leading scorer Gianna Monaco largely neutralized by Stanford’s defense in the second round of the NCAA tournament, Basso posted four goals. Each one was crucial. The Gators won 13-12 in overtime.

“The entire game, I kept saying in my head, ‘I’m not going home. I’m not going home,’” Basso said. “Everyone was feeling the same way. We just weren’t going to let it happen. If that means stepping into high-pressure situations, then there’s no time not to be confident. You have to take each opportunity.”

Basso still hasn’t gone home. She dished a pair of assists in the quarterfinals as Florida held off a late Duke rally to return to the final four with its revamped, reloaded 2025 roster.

“The Duke game was intense,” Basso said. “It was like, ‘This is for real.’ We went to the final four last year and knew we had a target on our backs ... it was a reality check.”

North Carolina also plays like it has a target on its back and treats every team like they have one on theirs. Florida knocked an injury-riddled Tar Heels team out of the first round of the NCAA tournament last year, but UNC beat the Gators in the regular season (14-9).

“It's going to be a dog fight,” Basso said. “We're all fired up to have a second chance against UNC this year. They’re an incredible team, but we’ve gotten better with time, so I’m excited to see it play out.”

Basso is focused on her immediate future, but she got reflective when asked about her recent past: Her whirlwind season in the Swamp.

“I remember coming to visit and the coaches saying, ‘We want to get to another final four,’” Basso said. “Having that dream come to fruition has been an insane experience, and I have gotten to do it with the biggest smile on my face.”

The feeling is mutual with Florida’s brass — now and in the distant future.

“She’s been a huge addition for us,” Thorpe said. “She’s been a great representation of our tradition here, the tradition [Coach O’Leary] built with the alumni, and she’s a great example. She had a great family at Gettysburg, and now she’s got two families.”