About 30 minutes had passed since the Iowa City High girls basketball team squeezed by with a three-point win over Wahlert Catholic, and Tessa Driscoll planted her feet at the free throw line.
The fans dispersed, the clean-up crew vacuumed garbage out of the stands and most players peeled off after the Tuesday night extravaganza last month.
Not Driscoll.
With a flick of her wrist, she swished a free throw.
Then another.
Then another.
Driscoll missed four shots from the charity stripe in her five-point night vs. the Golden Eagles — inconsistency that demanded her own personal overtime on the court.
On this night, and plenty of times before, Driscoll yearned for greatness. She is full of ambition, the same everyday effort that her late father, Ryan, possessed as a quarterback with Iowa football under Hayden Fry between 1992 and 1996.
Since her dad’s death in 2018, Tessa Driscoll has carried on his legacy while carving her own path as a superb athlete at City High. The game of basketball, which was introduced to her by her father, has become her sanctuary.
“When he passed away, it was just kind of what I focused on; it’s kind of what got me through it is playing basketball,” Driscoll said. “Whenever I was sad, whenever I didn’t have anything to do, I just played basketball — so that’s a big reason why I play. It’s fun, but it’s also just kind of like what I’ve done for so long. It’s kind of got me through a lot of tough times in my life.”
A few days removed from joining the 1,000-point club, Driscoll stood on the baseline at City High. Adjacent to her senior banner that occupied the wall above the student section.
Arriving at this point in her Iowa high school basketball career required the juggling of many emotions.
She is one of three seniors for this season’s City High bunch, having gone from a freshman on a 6-16 team to a veteran leader on a 16-6 state contender.
The Little Hawks suffered back-to-back losing seasons from 2022 to 2024 before they secured 16 wins in each of their last two campaigns.
Through it all, Driscoll has stayed the course.
Her game has prevented chaos from spilling over, helping engineer a turnaround in recent years. The great ones know how to grow their repertoire and employ it to the team.
That’s been a long strength of Driscoll.
A bucket-getter; a distributor; a consistent rebounder, the 5-foot-6 guard has breached the clouds of greatness at City High — powered by a team and community that has kept her upright.
“It’s just such a cool group of girls, and I just feel like I’ve been such a big a part of the culture and the community here for so long that it’s cool to be able to finish out my senior year on the highest note we’ve had,” Driscoll said.
Basketball courses through Driscoll’s veins. It warms her heart and drives her ambitions. She’s been hooping since she was a wide-eyed youngster born in Rockford, Illinois, making shots in the driveaway while her dad, Ryan, secured the rebound.
She started competing around kindergarten as part of an all-boys rec team before she joined a girls team a few years later. She moved to Iowa City as a seventh grader and joined the All Iowa Attack for AAU ball.
Driscoll has since developed into a complete player in the high school ranks, both in her skills and leadership.
Her swagger has also continued to glow.
She exudes bravado when she catches fire on the floor. The type of shooter who throws three fingers up in the air after making a bucket from long range. The type of finisher who lets out a celebratory scream when she converts down low.
“I would go watch Tessa’s club games when she was 13 years old … she’s always had that (swagger),” said City High coach Lynsey Barnard. “I think she’s added so much of her game, she now has more of that … she is like, ’I’m a baller, you want to play one-on-one? I’m going to beat you. You want to challenge me to something? I’m going to beat you.’ But seeing it kind of highlighted this year has been a blast.”
Driscoll has earned the title of a knockdown shooter. A marksman who could hold her own in a 3-point contest. She has splashed 199 3-pointers across 90 career varsity games.
Driscoll didn’t summon a genie and wished to be an elite shooter.
She worked for it.
She’s made of the same blue-collar DNA her father was, putting in work before, during and after practice.
Her leadership has aligned with her work ethic. She’s a teammate who holds people accountable, boosts morale and brings everyone together off the court.
“Tess has not gotten to where she is easily,” Barnard said. “People have always said she’s too short, she’s too weak … Truly, everywhere that she has gotten is because she has worked hard.
“We would not be even remotely where we are without her putting in work in literally every area of what it takes to be a successful program.”
This season, Driscoll has become more than a deep-range threat. She flashed her mid-range game, driven down the lane more, pulled down rebounds at a higher clip and locked up opposing players on defense.
Her evolution cannot be denied.
Undersized at 5-foot-6, her confidence and grit have become her secret sauce. As of Feb. 15, she has averaged a team-high 12.4 points and 3.2 assists per game. Her 5.2 rebounds per game ranks third on the team and is a career-high — impressive for a guard of her stature.
“She’s just gotten a lot more confident,” said City High junior Hattie Galloway. “She always really believed in herself, but she’s unshakeable now. As far as actual basketball, she’s just continued to grow in different aspects of the game.”
The video is grainy and dated, but it captured the connection between father and daughter.
Tessa Driscoll on the left and Ryan on the right with hats on, vibing to the song “House Party” by Sam Hunt. It remains a core memory of the 10 years they spent together.
Before he became a father and before he played for the Hawkeyes, Ryan was a multi-sport standout at Linn-Mar — a conference foe that the City High girls basketball team plays once a year.
Playing against her dad’s alma mater carries a little bit more weight for Tessa.
“He played basketball at Linn-Mar — he set some records there, so it’s always special to play at City High knowing that he would’ve thought it was cool to play here,” Driscoll said. “Linn-Mar games are always super emotional and then rivalry games … I just know he’d think it was really cool.”
Driscoll has leaned on basketball through the hardest chapter of her life. The game has become solace from heartache.
The sport has provided Driscoll with focus, a community and a way to honor her father’s memory. All while creating her own legacy as one of the best hoopers to play at City High.
Marc Ray is the high school sports reporter for the Iowa City Press-Citizen. He can be reached at MARay@gannett.com , and on X, formerly Twitter, at @themarcszn.
This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Tessa Driscoll honors legacy of dad Ryan Driscoll, ex-Iowa football QB
Reporting by Marc Ray, Iowa City Press-Citizen / Iowa City Press-Citizen
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
