Rye’s Lillian McCabe, a basketball star at both Rye High School (Class of 2011) and Davidson College, has won a Victory Scholarship from Sport Changes Life and is headed this fall to Ireland, where she will attend graduate school and continue her basketball career.

Rye’s Lillian McCabe, a basketball star at both Rye High School (Class of 2011) and Davidson College, has won a Victory Scholarship from Sport Changes Life and is headed this fall to Ireland, where she will attend graduate school and continue her basketball career.

Sport Changes Life aims “to raise the aspirations of disadvantaged and disengaged young people through the medium of sport by building self-belief, achieving success, and shaping a person’s future.” Victory Scholars act as mentors for the young people they work with and help identify deserving Irish students who would benefit from a year away studying in the United States.

At Davidson, from which she graduated cum laude in May, with a double major in History and Religion, and a minor in Arabic, McCabe played in over 100 basketball games and was a starter in her junior and senior years.

In Ireland, McCabe will attend IT Carlow, where she will earn a Master’s in International Business, play on their woman’s basketball team, and coach a group of women ages 16 to 24 as part of a community outreach program.

“I’m excited to continue my education and keep playing basketball,” said McCabe. “But really the most important thing to me is that I’ll be able to have an impact on the lives of young people and share with them my love for the game.”

— Melanie Cane