With the season wrapped up, Budnik is sorting out her future. She’ll graduate in June with a business degree and has one year of eligibility remaining because of the COVID exemption, which the NCAA offers to college players who competed during the COVID-impacted seasons.
Remaining at Richmond is a possibility and so is going elsewhere.
“Academics is the main priority,” she said.
Navigating the new world of college athletics can be a bit disorienting.
“I haven’t made any decisions yet,” Budnik said. “It’s definitely a weird time seeing the (players with extra) COVID years and the transfer portal, going on social media and seeing someone new has entered the portal every hour every day.”
She doesn’t expect the process to take long.
“I’m hoping to figure this out in the next couple weeks,” Budnik said. “I’m doing research.”
And she’s savoring the memories of a season for the ages.