Johnasia Cash realized in July that she wanted more out of her experience as a college basketball player.

She wanted to freely express herself. She wanted her voice to be heard. She wanted to continue to grow as a player.

So, the 6-foot-2 forward — a three-year starter for Dallas’ Southern Methodist University — opted to transfer for her senior season. Now, about five months later, as a member of the Penn State Lady Lions, Cash feels more comfortable than ever both on and off the court. Second-year coach Carolyn Kieger ensured Cash this would be the case during her recruitment as a transfer this summer.

“She just made it very clear that they were for me,” Cash said of Kieger. “They loved me. They wanted to support me in anything that I do.”

Feeling at home at Penn State has paid off so far for the McKeesport graduate. Though the Lady Lions have only played six games, sitting at 3-3, Cash has averaged a career-high 12 points per contest to go with six rebounds. She is the team’s third-leading scorer and second-leading rebounder.

Most importantly, Cash is being herself while doing it.

At SMU, Cash said she felt like there were “a lot of restrictions” on the ways in which she could express herself. This became the most apparent to her this past summer, after the video of the brutal killing of George Floyd by a police officer went viral in May. It was shortly after when Cash — who enjoys singing and often uses music as an outlet — wrote a song to describe the way she felt about social injustice and racism in America.

But while with the program, she said couldn’t perform or release it or participate in any protests.

“I’m not gonna shut up and dribble,” Cash said.

Her experience at Penn State has been almost the exact opposite of her time at SMU, though.

Only a little over a month after she joined the Lady Lions program in mid-August, the Black Student-Athletes group at Penn State, with the help of other campus organizations, held a candlelight vigil to honor Breonna Taylor, a Black woman fatally shot by police in her Louisville, Ky., home during a failed narcotics raid. As a handful of Penn State athletes addressed the crowd in downtown State College, Cash saw an opportunity to finally perform her song.

Kieger and her teammates encouraged her to do so.

“She kinda tapped me on my shoulder and said, ‘Hey, Coach, I wrote a song. Do you think it’s OK if I go up there and sing it?” Kieger recalled. “She did awesome. And I think her teammates were almost in tears. She expressed herself and her views and handled herself so well up on stage.”

As vital as Kieger’s support has been, Cash said the backing of her teammates every step of the way during her transition to Penn State has been just as crucial.

A player who Cash has especially connected with is sophomore guard Makenna Marisa, a Peters Township graduate. The two played in the same AAU travel ball organization, Western PA Bruins, in middle school in the Pittsburgh area and have been able to reconnect since Cash joined the program.

Marisa — Penn State’s second-leading scorer this season — has seen Cash fit right in with the Lady Lions so far.

“We all kinda have outgoing, weird personalities,” Marisa said. “So we’re very accepting, inviting. And that’s what I love most about our team. Cash has blended right in with being super outgoing and goofy. That’s kinda how we all are, so it was easy to invite her in.”

A newfound sense of comfort has also led Cash to become a leader on her new team.

Cash is the Lady Lions’ best interior player and defends the opponents’ best player on an every-game basis. She’s also very vocal and hasn’t been afraid to push her new teammates, which is exactly what Penn State needed after last season’s 7-23 campaign.

Graduate guard Kelly Jekot, the most veteran member of the program and the team’s leading scorer, has taken notice of Cash’s ability to rally the group.

“Her personality and the energy that she brings every single day — we always know she’s gonna hold us accountable in practice,” Jekot said. “And that’s the type of leadership we’ve been needing.”

It’s only been four months since Cash arrived in State College, but her journey so far has already allowed her to grow on and off the court, even more than she probably imagined in such a short time.

Now finally able to fully be herself, she’s just hoping to continue to take things day by day the rest of the season.

“Be a better version of me than I was last year,” Cash said, “that’s my goal every year.”

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