Driving to the Hall
This is the fourth in a series of articles profiling the 2020 Butler County Sports Hall of Fame inductees.Olivia Bresnahan still remembers the first time she put on a basketball uniform.“I played for my older brother's team at the YMCA,” the 2010 Butler graduate said. “I think I was 6 or so. After that, it was full speed ahead.”She's done quite a bit in a basketball uniform since, scoring 1,395 points for the Golden Tornado, being part of three successive section championship teams, and playing college basketball at Florida State and Duquesne.Now she's entering the Butler County Sports Hall of Fame. Bresnahan will be inducted at the organization's annual banquet at 6 p.m. April 25 at the Butler Days Inn.“I was very surprised, very humbled when I got that call,” Bresnahan said of the HOF. “There are so many great athletes in there. I'm thrilled to be counted among them.”Bresnahan was ranked No. 19 among shooting guards in the United States by HoopGurls in the 2010 recruiting class. She was a first team all-state selection her senior year.“We're coming up on our 10-year class reunion at Butler,” Bresnahan said. “My favorite memory playing basketball there was how close we all were.“There were seven of us who played from seventh grade through 12th. Since I've been away from the area, it's been harder to keep in touch. I'm visiting back home and had coffee with Katresa Savisky.“Coach (Dorothea) Epps is coming over for dinner ... She's still my second mom,” she added.When it came to college basketball and her decision to transfer from Florida State to Duquesne, Bresnahan said: “I don't regret any of my time in both places.”She described the training regimen at Florida State as “the toughest I've ever gone through.“I can see why they're one of the best teams in the country. It was a challenge playing there and I still have friends there.”Bresnahan started four games her sophomore season with the Seminoles and played in 30. She averaged 21.9 minutes per game, posting single-game career highs of 10 points, eight rebounds and six assists.She started 54 games in two years at Duquesne, scoring a career-high 19 points against West Virginia and 17 against Lehigh.“Duquesne became a better fit for me,” Bresnahan said. “It was a chance to get closer to home and my parents and family got to see me play. That meant a lot.”After serving as a graduate assistant coach temporarily, Bresnahan now serves as Director of Operations for the Wake Forest University women's basketball team.She coordinates chartered flights, hotel reservations and equipment matters for the team.“I guess I've become like their team mom ... maybe big sister. I'm not that old yet,” Bresnahan said, laughing.She hopes to eventually get into the administrative, business side of sports in some capacity.“There's a lot of hours, a lot of travel involved with what I do now,” Bresnahan said. “I'm hoping to use this as a stepping stone toward the administrative side. But I know I want to continue working in sports.”And she's happy about how she's developed into the person she is today through sports.“You learn so many life lessons with sports,” Bresnahan said. “I learned about discipline, coordinating time to fit in three-hour practices with studying.“I've learned leadership, how to speak to different people and build relationships. In the real world, you often wind up working on a team of some sort. I learned all of that early in life and I've carried it with me.”Tickets for the Hall of Fame banquet are $30 in advance, $35 at the door. Tables of eight are $200. Tickets are available at Parker's Appliance in Chicora, Moses Jewelers at the Clearview Mall, The Butler Radio Network in Butler and Saxonburg Drug.
