WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind – Purdue women’s basketball head coach Katie Gearlds added a third member to the incoming freshman class for the 2026-27 season with the signing of Slovakian international Katarína Šedivá.
The 6-foot-1 guard/forward joins Keona Douwstra and Maya Zilbershlag in the all-international freshman class for the Boilermakers. All three are set to be on campus this summer.
Šedivá is coming off a packed 2025-26 campaign playing for Ruzomberok, the most decorated club in Slovakian women’s basketball history, in the Slovakia-Extraliga, Slovak Cup and the Central European Women’s League. Šedivá also earned her first call up to the Slovakian Women’s National Team for the 2027 EuroBasket Qualifiers.
In her first season with Ruzomberok, Šedivá helped her club win the Slovak Cup, with 12 points in the championship game. Šedivá averaged 8.6 points per game on 47.5% shooting with 4.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.6 steals per game in the Slovakia-Extraliga, helping her club reach the finals. Ruzomberok is set to face Piešťanské Čajky in a best-of-five series starting April 18.
Click here to follow the championship series.
Šedivá appeared in seven games for Ruzomberok in the Central European Women’s League this season to help the club finish top of their group with a 5-1 record, before winning the third-place game in the playoffs. She posted 7.4 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.4 steals per game in the continental tournament.
She started her senior career with Young Angels Kosice in her hometown for one year in 2024-25, averaging 10.2 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game, the same club that Purdue alumna Erin Lawless played at from 2009-12.
After an extensive career representing Slovakia on the junior level, Šedivá earned her first national team call up for the 2027 EuroBasket Qualifiers, making the team after a training camp. Slovakia won all three games in her call up to reach the second round of the qualifying stages.
Over six EuroBasket Tournaments during her junior career, Šedivá averaged 10.6 points, 8.7 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game.
KATARINA ŠEDIVÁ
6-1 | Forward | Kosice, Slovakia
PREP
• Played extensively for her native Slovakia on the national stage at the junior levels, breaking into the senior team in 2026
• Spent two seasons in the Slovakia-Extraliga playing for Ruzomberok and Young Angels Kosice
• Helped guide Ruzomberok to the Slovak Cup in her first year with the club in 2025-26, scoring 12 points in the title game
• Averaged 8.6 points on 47.5% shooting with 4.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.6 steals per game in the Slovakia-Extraliga in 2025-26, helping her club reach the championship series
• Also took Ruzomborek to a third-place finish in the Central European Women’s League with 7.4 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.4 steals per game
• Started her career in the junior levels at her hometown Young Angels Kosice, before breaking into the senior team in 2024-25 with 10.2 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game, the same club that Purdue alumna Erin Lawless played at from 2009-12
• Earned a call up to the Slovakian Women’s National Team for the EuroBasket Qualifiers in 2026, helping her team win all three games and reach the second round of the qualifying stages
• Nearly recorded a double-double at the 2025 U20 EuroBasket with 10.8 points and 8.2 rebounds and shooting 47% from the field, a few weeks after averaging a double-double at the U18 EuroBakset on 12.4 points and 11.3 rebounds per outing
• Went for 8.0 points and 7.7 rebounds at the 2024 U18 EuroBasket
• Represented Slovakia three times at the U16 EuroBasket, going for 13 points, 10.6 rebounds and 3.1 assists in 2023, 10.6 points and 7.1 rebounds in 2022 and 7.4 points and 6.2 rebounds in 2021
PERSONAL
• Full Name: Katarina Šedivá
• Hometown: Košice, Slovakia
• Parents: Gabriela Šedivá and Jozef Šedivý
• Siblings: Hana and Martin
• Intended Major: Psychology