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But this time, the former Virginia Tech center won’t be making a basket, grabbing a rebound or blocking a shot.

Kitley is returning to Cassell for the retirement of her No. 33 jersey Sunday.

How will she react when her jersey is unveiled in the Cassell rafters? Will there be tears?

“It’s something I can’t even comprehend. I don’t think it’ll feel real in the moment. I don’t know how I’ll react,” Kitley said Friday in a phone interview from North Carolina. “I’m very curious to see how I feel and if I get emotional. I have no idea. … I know my dad’s going to cry.”

The jersey retirement ceremony will take place at halftime of the Hokies’ 4 p.m. game against Louisville.

Tech announced in April that Kitley’s jersey would be retired. Kitley, who played for Tech from 2019-2024, will become only the second Tech women’s basketball player to have her jersey retired. The late Renee Dennis’ jersey was retired in 1987.

Kitley flew home Thursday from Las Vegas, where she has been undergoing rehab for the torn ACL she suffered last year. The Summerfield, North Carolina, native returned to her old high school Friday night for the retirement ceremony of her high school jersey.

Two jersey retirements in one weekend? Not bad.

“It’s definitely not something I imagined. It’s really cool,” Kitley said. “It’s something I’m really going to appreciate, especially in a few years. … It’s special now, but I think I’ll be able to grasp it more in my future.”

If Kitley had been told when she was a kid that her high school and college jerseys would be retired one day, what would she have thought?

“She’d probably be shocked,” Kitley said. “I don’t think it’s something anyone really expects going into their career, especially coming from humble beginnings. I didn’t have any basketball expectation of greatness. … It’s not like I set super lofty goals. It was more immediate, achievable goals I set, just by trying my hardest one day after the other. And eventually it took me here.”

Kitley and her former high school and college teammate Cayla King were inducted into Northwest Guilford High School’s hall of fame Friday night.

On Saturday night, Kitley, King and some other members of last season’s Virginia Tech team were set to gather to receive their 2023-24 ACC regular-season championship rings.

On Sunday, Kitley will become the fourth Tech female athlete to have her jersey retired, joining Dennis, Lisa Pikalek (volleyball) and Angela Tincher (softball).

She is excited about the jersey ceremony. She will be joined by her parents, siblings, cousins, friends, agents, King and ex-Hokie Olivia Summiel.

“I feel very, very special,” she said.

Tech is also honoring Kitley with her own bobblehead doll. Some fans will be able to take home the bobbleheads Sunday.

Kitley had to approve the doll.

“I don’t know if it looks like me or not, but I think the jersey looks really cool,” she said. “It’s really cute. I’m excited to hide those around the house.”

Kitley has not played in a game since early March of last year. She suffered a torn ACL in last year’s regular-season finale.

“It’s definitely the longest I’ve ever gone (without playing),” she said. “I miss that, for sure.”

But she is back in the limelight this weekend.

“I’ve been pretty removed from everything for almost a year now and I’ve been focusing on my rehab and not in the spotlight at all, so it’s funny to kind of go from one extreme to the other so quickly,” she said. “Being back in Blacksburg around all my people, it’s going to make it extra special.”

Thanks to the jersey ceremony, Sunday’s game is a sellout — fitting, considering that Kitley and her teammates drew seven sellout crowds to Cassell last season.

“When I think of my time there, the first image that pops in my head is a packed, roaring Cassell at a home game,” Kitley said. “That feeling, I can’t replicate that. I think it was so special. And hopefully the girls will continue to get that kind of support.

“I’ll always think about walking out or running out to a sold-out Cassell very fondly.”

Two seasons ago, Kitley helped Tech win the ACC Tournament for the first time and reach the Final Four for the first time. Last year, she helped Tech win the ACC regular-season title for the first time.

Kitley was named an Associated Press second-team All-American last year, making her a three-time All-American. She also was named the ACC player of the year for the third time. She averaged 22.8 points and 11.4 rebounds as a graduate student last year.

Kitley owns the Tech career scoring record (2,709 points) and both the Tech and ACC career records for rebounds (1,506). She also owns the Tech and ACC career marks for double-doubles (76). She also owns the school career marks for blocks (331), starts (151), minutes (4,935), baskets (1,109) and field-goal percentage (55.2%).

She was drafted by the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces last April. She has been living in Las Vegas since then, undergoing rehab.

Kitley said her rehab is “going really good.” She intends to be at the Aces’ training camp in the spring. Her goal is to play for the Aces in the upcoming season.

“It’s exciting to feel the progress and to get back on the court a bit,” she said. “Trying to get back to feeling like myself. I feel like I’m having that more and more every day, which is really encouraging, especially when the process is so long.”

“It’s really hard to be on the sidelines for so long. It just builds appreciation and anticipation for when I am able to play again and be out there with everyone. I’m really looking forward to it.”

Is she excited to show the Aces what she can do?

“I’m very excited to show myself what I can do again,” she said. “I think that’s a huge part of getting over an injury, is just mentally getting back in your own body and feeling like yourself. I’m really excited to get to that point.”

Kitley attended the Aces’ home games last season and got to know their players.

She is enjoying life in Vegas.

“It’s very different than Southwest Virginia, but I think it’s really important and valuable for me to have a different experience,” she said. “I’ll always look back on this time and be proud of myself for being so far away from my family for the first time and being really independent in my living situation. Not having my parents (only a) driving distance away was new for me this year and I think I handled it really well. I also got to experience a lot of new things.

“I went to a ton of concerts this summer, which is really cool. But I also just do the things I’ve always loved to do. I paint and I read my books and I play video games with my friends and I play solitaire and cook. … I’m still me, but with more Cirque du Soleil shows.”

Kitley attended the Tech-Iowa game in Charlotte, North Carolina, two months ago, but Sunday will be the first time she has attended a game at Cassell this season. The Hokies are 12-5 overall and 3-3 in the ACC, while Louisville is 13-5, 6-1.

Of course, Kitley’s former coach at Tech is no longer in Blacksburg. Kenny Brooks now coaches nationally ranked Kentucky.

“I talk to Coach Brooks … at least a couple times a week, which I think is really special,” Kitley said. “I’m really proud of what they’re doing out there.”

Kitley is also proud of her five seasons at Tech.

“My injury and our ending (last season) is .2% of the grand scheme of everything. There’s so many things to be proud of,” she said. “When I think back on my time, I don’t even think about the … ending at all. … As time goes on, I reflect so fondly on everything.”