Anna Murray

Resilience in Motion: The Growth Mindset of Anna Murray

She learned the game from her mom, chased it because of her cousin, and rebuilt herself through every setback with discipline, grace, and grit.

If you trace Anna Murray’s basketball story back far enough, it starts in a gym — not hers, but her mom’s. “She was a gym teacher,” Anna says. “So I was always around the game — whether she was coaching high school teams or teaching in class.” It wasn’t long before basketball became less of an activity and more of a family language.

Then came her cousin (and Lightning Legend) Jaz, the one Anna calls “like a sister.” “I wanted to be just like her,” she says. “Everything she did, I wanted to do.” Between her mom’s influence and Jaz’s example, the game wasn’t just a pastime — it was a calling.

At 12 years old, Anna got her first sign that the calling might be real. During a youth tournament, she was named Player of the Tournament — and even got a $100 prize. “It wasn’t about the money,” she laughs. “It was the feeling. The affirmation that people saw potential in me. It gave me confidence to chase this thing for real.”

But growth, as she’s learned, doesn’t come without pain. Anna’s career has been punctuated by injuries — a broken ankle, and now a fractured wrist. “The road back was long and tested my patience every day,” she says. “But discipline and a positive mindset got me through.” Her approach to setbacks is as methodical as her game: control what you can, learn from what you can’t, and keep moving forward. “The hardest lesson I’ve learned,” she says, “is that growth comes with discomfort. You have to turn struggle into opportunity.”

That mentality fuels everything she does now. “What keeps me going are my teammates, my family, and the vision of who I can become,” she says. “Their belief fuels my determination.” This season, her focus isn’t just physical — it’s mental. She’s working on becoming a louder, more confident leader, on taking mistakes as fuel instead of failures. “I’m a perfectionist,” she admits. “Sometimes my worst opponent is my own mindset.”

Off the court, she’s not afraid to surprise you. Anna plays rugby, a sport as different from basketball as it gets — and she loves it. “It’s a totally different pace,” she says. “But it’s taught me teamwork, physicality, and how to compete without overthinking.” She stays balanced through yoga, family time, and quiet outdoor moments — anything that lets her reset and recharge. “It helps me come back to basketball focused,” she says.

Her favorite lesson — one she wishes she’d learned earlier — has become her personal mantra:

“Focus on consistency, not perfection. Progress doesn’t happen overnight. Trust the process.”

And when her college career is over, Anna hopes her legacy will be simple but unshakable:

“I want to be remembered as someone who gave full effort every single day.”

That’s Anna Murray — thoughtful, tough, and endlessly evolving. She’s not chasing perfection anymore; she’s chasing growth. And in doing so, she’s showing everyone around her what true consistency looks like: one rep, one recovery, one resilient comeback at a time.