When Kennedy Leonard graduated from the University of Colorado in 2019, there was no question more basketball was in her future.

“For me, I was never one who came out of college thinking, ‘Oh I want to go do a job,’” she said. “I want to coach eventually, but I think being able to play what you love for as long as you can is a huge blessing. I don’t want to be a person who plays until I hate it and then I hate it for the rest of my life, but until I don’t love it anymore and I don’t feel like I want to play anymore, I’m going to keep playing as long as I can. I’m trying to enjoy and savor every moment of it.”

Leonard still loves it and she’s still playing. After a stellar run with the London Lions of the Women’s British Basketball League, Leonard recently signed to play with a summer league team in New Zealand.

During a four-year career at CU, from 2015-19, Leonard became the program’s all-time leader in assists (664) and assists-per-game (5.8). She is also eighth in CU history in career points (1,635), seventh in career scoring average (14.3 per game) and seventh in career steals (238). Leonard earned first-team All-Pac-12 honors twice with the Buffs.

After a broken foot limited Leonard to 20 games as a senior, she went undrafted by the WNBA and embarked on a career overseas. She played with a team in Germany during the 2019-20 campaign and then joined the London Lions of the WBBL following the COVID pandemic.

“Everything happens for a reason and I’ve been able to expose myself to so many different cultures and I’ve played in a ton of countries just because we travel to play in the EuroCup,” she said. “I’ve been to so many places I probably wouldn’t have experienced otherwise.”

The year before Leonard signed with the Lions, they were 0-16.

In Leonard’s two full seasons with the club, the Lions went 58-6 — including 34-0 during the 2021-22 campaign — and won the WBBL playoffs both years. The club, which was formed in 2014, also won the prestigious Betty Codona Trophy for the first — and second — time in program history and won its first-ever WBBL Cup.

Leonard won six major trophies, including three MVP awards and set a WBBL single-game record for assists with 21. She averaged 13.0 points, 8.8 assists, 5.0 rebounds and 2.9 steals in the WBBL before being released by the Lions in January. She also averaged 8.8 points, 4.1 assists and 3.6 rebounds in FIBA EuroCup games.

“I met so many great teammates — people I had actually known before and had spent time with before in America that ended up being my teammates there and then people who I hadn’t met before who are now my lifelong friends,” she said.

“We did really well. We played in EuroCup, we won championships, we turned the whole place around. For me that was a really cool experience to do with people who I started it with.”

Leonard’s mother was born in Scotland, which entitles Leonard to dual citizenship. That allowed her to play for the Lions as a citizen, and it’s also given her opportunities to play for the British national team and for Scotland in the Commonwealth Games.

Leonard broke her hand in February, but is recovered and eager to play again. Now, she’s heading off to a new adventure in New Zealand.

“I thought that could be a cool experience,” she said. “It’s three months, it’s a good amount of money and it’s an opportunity to play and have fun. Since I haven’t played in a while, I thought why not kind of warm myself up for the actual season that comes after that and experience something new?”

For Leonard, the past four years have been filled with new experiences, which have all helped her grow on and off the court.

“I think as a player and a person I’ve grown a ton,” she said. “I think breaking my foot my senior year helped me a lot because before that I was basketball, basketball, basketball. Everything had to be basketball. When I broke my foot, I realized my life didn’t depend on basketball anymore. There’s bigger and better things to focus on and deal with and do. For me, as a person and a player, I’ve grown tremendously.”

Particularly as a player, where she’s still progressing in the game she loves.

“I would say I’ve gotten a lot better (since being at CU),” she said, “but I think that just comes with time and maturity and growing and realizing that your worth doesn’t depend on how you play.”