Clayton State’s Kayla Mobley Charts Path to Professional Ranks With Globe Trotting Career
Student-Athlete. Record Holder. National Champion. Graduate. Professional Athlete. International Champion. World Traveler. Role Model.
Every single one of those describes Kayla Mobley, and while the foundation for that success may not have begun at Clayton State, it was certainly where it was set in place and became the launching point for her to make her dreams a reality.
Joining the Lakers women’s basketball program in the Fall of 2010 after a season at North Florida, the 5-11 point forward made an immediate impact on a team that had already made six straight NCAA Division II Tournament appearances and won a pair of regional titles.
Over the next three years that Mobley would don the Orange and Blue it would be the most successful stretch in the history of the illustrious program, which is saying something. In that time she helped lead Clayton State to an incredible 96-6 overall record, 47-2 mark at The Loch and nearly unbelievable 52-1 record in the Peach Belt Conference.
Those wins would lead to more, much more, as the Lakers claimed a total of four PBC championships, made three appearances in the NCAA tournament, two trips to the Elite Eight and, most importantly, won the first and only national championship in Clayton State Athletics history.
On their way to a 35-1 season in 2010-11, Mobley and the Lakers proceeded to win all six games in the NCAA Tournament by at least 17 points, capped by a dominant 69-50 decision over No. 3 Michigan Tech on March 25, 2011. It is still the only national championship won by a four-year program in the State of Georgia.
Certainly the highlight of any student-athlete’s career, and often the culmination of a career at the Division II level, it would be just the beginning of Mobley’s story.
Following 61 more wins as a Laker, setting the women’s track & field program record for the shot put and earning her degree in Psychology and Human Services in 2013, her journey would take her far afield courtesy of the sport she loves and the skills, determination and connections gleaned from her time at Clayton State.
“I’ve been on this journey since 2013 and it wasn’t always easy,” said Mobley. “I had to tell myself not to give up just because it didn’t happen as quickly as I would have liked sometimes. I stayed after it and controlled what I could. I would tell those athletes that want to take their career to the next level, that they have to eat, sleep and breathe it. You can’t cheat the game and when you step on the court it will show just how much work you have, or have not, put in.”
The journey she speaks of is one that “shows the work” and has taken her to three different continents and six different countries in the past six years as she’s chased her dream of playing professionally.
One of just a handful of Clayton State women’s basketball players to accomplish that feat, she has been the most successful. After getting her start with the startup WUBA in Atlanta, Georgia in 2013-14, Mobley would earn the opportunity to play overseas.
That opportunity would take her to Africa and come in Morocco in May of 2014 and then in Europe and England for the Northumbria Newcastle Eagles (2014-15) of the Women’s British Basketball League (WBBL).
After averaging 14.6 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.4 steals for the latter, her journey would take her to Estonia in January of 2016 with Tallinna Ulikool before landing back in North America in Mexico for the next year. It would be then that her career would truly start to take off.
She would earn Most Valuable Player honors with Soles de Ojinaga and an ACHBA Championship after averaging a double-double before joining Lobas de Aguascalientes for five months. There she was a key factor in that club winning the 2017 LMBPF Championship behind marks of 18.1 points, 10.1 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game.
It would be her connections at Clayton State that would then help her land her most recent contract, specifically with the help of former teammate and current assistant coach Brittany Hall.
“I’ve received contracts from the teams I’ve played on through networking with people who are in the field of overseas basketball,” said Mobley. “The coaches at Clayton have always been supportive and have checked in on me from time to time to see how everything is going. Brittany [Hall] put me in touch with Alexia Adams which is who helped me get the first contract that I had in Romania.”
That contact and contract have paid dividends on all fronts as Mobley led Liga 1 Romania in scoring (26.3 ppg.) and rebounding (13.6 rpg.) while playing for Targu Secuiesc in 2018-19. That success would continue this past year with Mieleras de Guanajuato as she led the franchise to the LMBPF Championship, earning MVP honors behind averages of 19.3 points, 12.1 rebounds and 1.6 assists.
An extremely successful member of the Clayton State Athletics alumni community, Mobley imparts a very straightforward message to those that would follow in her footsteps from her alma mater.
“Do the work now and you will reap the results later. If you want it bad enough you will go after it no matter what it takes and no matter what anyone else has to say about your dreams. It is possible but it takes sacrifice, continuous preparation, always being ready for your name to be called and never giving up. You may encounter a few setbacks along the way but don’t let that stop you.”
She certainly hasn’t.
A version of this article will appear in the next issue of the Laker Connection, the magazine for Clayton State University Alumni.
