‘My way to travel the world.’ UK women’s star preparing for pro debut in Europe
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- Dazia Lawrence signed with KBF PEJA 03 to begin her pro career in Kosovo in 2025.
- Lawrence aims to gain Euro Cup exposure and long-term growth with her new team.
- Agent Orlando Castaño Jr. negotiated contract and provides ongoing career guidance.
When weighing options while determining the next steps in her basketball career, beloved Kentucky guard Dazia Lawrence considered her long-term goals.
The path was always going to be professional basketball — with Lawrence continuing to put in the work in order to reach the highest levels of the sport — but with which team, and where, remained unknown.
Not until the start of June did Lawrence’s agent, Orlando Castaño Jr., bring forth what he felt was “a very great opportunity,” for her — a professional contract with KBF PEJA 03 in the Kosovo Basketball Superleague in Kosovo, Europe, beginning in late-August.
“Although it wasn’t everything that I wanted,” Lawrence said. “I feel like this decision is going to help me long-term. I had to look at short-term goals versus long-term goals. And I feel like this signing will best benefit me in the long term.”
From August until, at least, the season’s end in April 2026, exposure is a priority. In joining KBF PEJA 03, Lawrence will play in front of a passionate fan base, and will have the opportunity to play in the high-profile Euro Cup in the organization’s tournament debut.
“More people, more eyes get to see me,” Lawrence said. “More exposure, being able to play in the Euro Cup my first year. That was really one of the main things. I was like, ‘OK, you know what? I can sacrifice a little bit now to get huge gains in the long run.’”
In her single year at Kentucky, Lawrence was instrumental in laying the groundwork for what would become a strong first season for head coach Kenny Brooks.
The graduate guard’s leadership, character and production — 12.9 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 33.3 minutes across 31 contests — not to mention her team-leading 39% 3-point shooting, helped the Wildcats to a fourth-place finish in the Southeastern Conference, a top-16 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and the program’s first trip to the round of 32 since 2021.
Following the season-ending overtime loss to Kansas State on March 23, the Wildcats said goodbye to Lawrence and leading scorer Georgia Amoore, both of whom would be pursuing professional careers.
Amoore — who was, indeed, later selected sixth overall by the Washington Mystics in the first round of the 2025 WNBA draft — was an indisputable WNBA candidate. Lawrence, however, was correctly predicted to go undrafted.
In an attempt to further push her name out there, and play alongside and against some of the graduating class’s top talent, Lawrence participated in the Women’s College All-Star Game on April 5. During the matchup, Lawrence posted a statline of nine points, plus recorded the block, steal and assist in the game-winning play for her team.
It was during the weekend of the all-star game that Lawrence met Castaño, who interrupted a conversation between Lawrence and a coach regarding the particulars of a play.
“I was complaining about how the setup was,” Lawrence said. “And he butted in, interrupting, he was like, ‘Well, they set it up like this because — and I was like, ‘Who is this guy? I don’t even know this man. I’m sitting here, talking to my coach. I’m just trying to express how I’m feeling in this moment.’”
The following day, after Lawrence and Team East won the all-star game, Castaño returned and told her how much he loves her game.
“‘You caught my attention,’” Lawrence recalled.
Within a few days, Lawrence signed with Castaño. The agent, who is certified for NFL, WNBA, FIBA and name, image and likeness representation, is also a sports attorney, an added bonus that stood out to the ex-Cat.
“That was one thing that gravitated me toward him,” Lawrence said. “Because he works well with contracts. He knows what to include, what not to include. So he also writes up most of my contracts with the organization I’ll be playing with.”
Lawrence also noted she appreciates his organized, efficient work style and called him “a go-getter,” who “tells it to you straight.”
“It’s something that I need, especially being new in this process,” Lawrence said. “Being new just playing international basketball. He gives it to me straight, and he really has my best interest at heart.”
With Castaño, and his expertise, in her corner, Lawrence chose to step outside her comfort zone and sign the contract with KBF PEJA 03 after a few days’ thought.
After a weeklong trip home to Greenville, North Carolina, in early July, Lawrence returned to her undergraduate school, Charlotte, to prepare for Kosovo. Using the 49ers’ facilities, Lawrence aimed to lift “at least four times a week,” and get a court workout in “at least three-to-four times a week.”
The majority of Charlotte’s current women’s basketball support staff is the same as it was when Lawrence was leading the team in scoring, despite the fact that former head coach Cara Consuegra left to take the Marquette job — which opened after Megan Duffy replaced Brooks at Virginia Tech — in 2024.
Lawrence called Charlotte coach Tomekia Reed’s new coaching staff “amazing,” and said the support given and resources made available to her this summer have been helping in her journey to stay consistent, day to day.
Of course, Lawrence’s days aren’t spent exclusively in the gym. The summer has also provided plenty of time to rack up at the pool table — a newfound interest she picked up with a few UK teammates before she left Lexington — or hang out with her best friend, whom she met as an underclassman at Charlotte.
When Lawrence leaves for Kosovo in late August, it will mark her first international basketball trip since the 2023 FIBA 3x3 U23 Women’s World Cup in Lublin, Poland, where she was a member of the 11th-place USA U23 squad with teammates Zia Cooke, Aquira DeCosta and Dyaisha Fair.
Though the Team USA 3x3 experience looks quite different from a pro career in Europe, Lawrence is grateful for the “little, little, little taste of what it is to play internationally,” traveling to another country with the sole purpose of playing a sport against players from all over the world.
Lawrence also looks forward to traveling and exploring what Europe has to offer.
“Being able to use basketball as my way to travel the world is something that I’ve wanted since I was like, ‘’OK, I do want to play basketball professionally,’ a few years ago,” Lawrence said. “I want to use basketball to do what I love, meet new people, learn new cultures. I just like to learn.”
