Kiki Jefferson’s passport has been getting quite a workout lately.
In the last year, the former Lancaster Catholic standout has played professional women’s basketball in Spain, Puerto Rico and currently in Kosovo in the Balkans.
“Google translate is my best friend,” Jefferson said, chuckling. “I struggle with the languages. That’s the biggest adjustment. That, and the food.”
Mix in a stint in the popular 3-on-3 Unrivaled league based in Miami earlier this year — “that,” Jefferson said, “was very cool; another blessing” — and it’s been a whirlwind for the Crusaders’ 2,500-point scorer, state champ, and former two-time Pennsylvania Player of the Year.
“The goal,” said Jefferson, back home in Lancaster for a holiday break in the Kosovo schedule, “will always be to play professional basketball.”
Jefferson has been doing that very well. After playing college ball at James Madison University and then at the University of Louisville — where she combined to score 2,257 points, grab 969 rebounds and sink 155 3-pointers — she was drafted by the Minnesota Lynx in the third round of the WNBA draft in 2024.
She didn’t latch on in Minnesota. But Jefferson keeps finding work playing hoops around the globe. Hence, all the stamps in her passport book.
Jefferson recently wrapped up a stint in Puerto Rico playing for Atenienses De Manati in the Baloncesto Superior Nacional Femenino. She averaged 11.7 points and 6.8 rebounds a game in 32 outings, helping her team reach the championship round.
There, De Manati fell to Explosivos De Moca in seven games; Jefferson averaged 10.4 points in the championship round.
That came after her Unrivaled stint, which came on the heels of her first pro contract in Spain, where Jefferson played for Sedis Cadi La Seu in the Liga Femenina Endresa.
Jefferson, 24, said she enjoyed the competition in Spain; that league features many former WNBA players.
Jefferson is currently playing for Peja 03 in the Kosovo Superliga. The squad also plays in the Eurocup Liga. She’ll head back there to finish the season in early January.
In her first three games with Peja 03, Jefferson averaged 15 points and 8.3 rebounds. Peja 03 is off to a 7-1 start in Superliga play.
“Insane crowds,” Jefferson said. “Once you show them that you play hard, they’ll follow you and your team. It’s a confidence-builder for me playing there.”
And in Spain. And Puerto Rico. And Miami.
The ultimate goal is the WNBA. But for now, Jefferson is happy to be playing professionally — and filling up her passport, while learning all kinds of new languages along the way.
“It’s a blessing,” Jefferson said. “And I want to keep playing to show all the little girls here that it’s worth it. If I wouldn’t have started dribbling that orange ball when I was kid, I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing today.”
Globe-trotting while playing professionally, doing what she loves the most.
