Five Lady Blue Devil national champions to continue college cage careers
by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC
Sophomores at Kansas City Kansas Community College are not only leaving with a national championship but with scholarships to continue their basketball careers as four-year universities wasted no time in snaring a quintet of Blue Devils.
Lillie Moore signed with Texas State University, an NCAA Division I member located in San Marcos while NJCAA Player of the Year Nija Collier passed up at least a half-dozen Division I offers to seek another national championship at NCAA DII power Central Missouri in Warrensburg where she’ll be joined by teammate Camryn Swanson.
All-American Kisi Young is returning to her home town of Magnolia, Arkansas, to play at Southern Arkansas University while Lizzie Stark will stay closest to her home in Liberty, Missouri, by selecting Baker University in Baldwin, Kansas.
Still weighing their options are point guards Caitlyn Stewart of Wichita Maize and Lexy Watts of Olathe North.
“This is by far the most calls and the most interest I’ve had on a group of sophomores which speaks to their talent and abilities,” KCKCC coach Joe McKinstry said. “Obviously I’m very happy and excited for this group. I feel like each one put themselves in a great position and are most deserving of the honors they’ve earned. It’s nice to see coaches on the 4-year level recognize their potential as individuals and what they can bring to their new teams.”
Many of the calls started coming before the season after the Blue Devils took part in a pre-season jamboree in Frisco, Texas.
“It’s one of the biggest pre-season recruiting jamborees in the country,” McKinstry said. “I did not see a coach from UConn there but I did see coaches from every other big program, probably more than 400 from four-year schools. As a team, our girls played very, very well. It jump-started a lot of interest in our players.”
Collier swept every award possible in becoming the first Blue Devil to be named NJCAA DII Player of the Year.
A first-team All-American, she was also named the Most Valuable Player in the national tournament and Jayhawk Conference and first team All-Region VI and All-Jayhawk Conference. She led the Blue Devils in scoring (17.3) and rebounding (9.7) while shooting 58.5 percent from the field.
Young is the first Blue Devil to be named to the All-American second team after setting a KCKCC record for shooting percentage (.639). An All-Tournament selection at the national tourney, she was also All-Region and All-Jayhawk first team. Second in team rebounding (8.7), she was fourth in scoring (10.6).
Moore was named to the All-Jayhawk and All-Region teams in each of her two seasons at KCKCC and the All-Tournament team at the national. In 67 games played over two seasons, Moore averaged 14.16 points and 8.04 rebounds. She leaves second in career free throws (242), sixth in career scoring (949) and ninth in rebounds (539).
Swanson set the all-time record for 3-point goals in a single season with 87 and equaled the all-time career record with 128. Swanson had 11 games with four or more 3-pointers with a single game high of seven, second on the all-time list. Team captain, she averaged 8.6 points.
A preseason injury limited Stark to just 17 games this season after a freshman season when she was an invaluable “sixth man,” averaging 4.3 points and 3.0 rebounds. Fully recovered from the injury, she is expected to add shooting and depth at Baker.