Category: KCKCC

KCKCC cage standout Byrd commits to Southwest Baptist

Cutting down the net after winning the 2019 NJCAA DII national championship was the highlight of Brodi Byrd’s two-year career at Kansas City Kansas Community College. (KCKCC photo by Alan Hoskins)

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC

“When we recruited Brodi Byrd to come to Kansas City Kansas Community College, her goal was to play NCAA Division II basketball; that was her personal dream,” remembered KCKCC head coach Joe McKinstry.

That goal is no longer a dream. It’s a reality. The 5-6 shooting guard from Truman High School in Independence has committed to continue her stellar basketball career at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Missouri.

“She will play at and compete at a high level and be a very good player for Southwest Baptist,” McKinstry said. “She’s the best we’ve ever had coming into a gym with a good attitude and mind set and ready to work hard and get better.”

“We’re graduating two key guards who gave us 27 points a game so we’re looking for Brodi to step in and have an impact and play a leadership role,” Southwest Baptist head coach Kelsey Keizer said. “She can shoot and score, plays with a lot of energy, has speed and intensity and knows how to play at a high level. But the No. 1 thing is her competitiveness and desire to win.”

A member of the Great Lakes Valley Conference, which includes Rockhurst and William Jewell from the Kansas City area, the Lady Bearcats finished 15-13 overall and 9-11 in the GLVC this past season, Keizer’s sixth as head coach.

Southwest Baptist’s recruitment of Byrd started in earnest after Lady Bearcats assistant coach Brittney Dukes saw Byrd in the Region VI semifinals at Labette.

“Brittney immediately said she was a player who could have great success playing for us,” Keizer said.

Byrd, however, has yet to visit the campus in Bolivar or meet Keizer face-to-face.

“I was supposed to go on a visit and then everything got shut down,” Byrd said. “So I had a virtual visit. They made a video of the campus and I now I talk weekly to a couple of players, one from St. Louis who I played against last year and another from Belton.”

“It’s been kind of wild; everything by phone and video,” Keizer said of the shutdown created by the coronavirus pandemic. “We can’t wait to give her a hug and high fives.”

Byrd had other offers including two colleges in Iowa and Christian colleges in Arkansas and Kentucky.

“Southwest Baptist is not too far from home so my family can come and see me play for two years,” she said. “And talking to the coaches and players, they seemed like a family which is what I was looking for.”

In her two years at KCKCC, the Lady Blue Devils finished 57-11 and won the NJCAA DII national championship her freshman season. Byrd started in 22 of 36 games in the 32-4 championship season, averaging 8.9 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.8 assists. Starting the last 14 games of the season, she was an integral part of the Blue Devils’ stretch drive, averaging 13.0 points in the final five games of the season, four of which were in the national tournament.

The only returning starter this season, Byrd averaged 10.3 points this season despite being a target of opposing defenses. She scored in double figures in 17 games with highs of 24, 23 and 21 points as the Blue Devils finished 25-7. She also shared the team lead in assists (2.4) and was second in rebounds (4.8) and steals (1.8). The daughter of John and Janice Byrd, she has two older sisters.

KCKCC’s jazz studies program receives national recognition from DownBeat magazine

by Kelly Rogge, KCKCC

Students and faculty from Kansas City Kansas Community College’s Jazz Studies program have received six honors in DownBeat Magazine’s 2020 Student Music Awards.

DownBeat has the widest circulation of any jazz magazine in the United States and has been recognizing student achievement at the middle school, high school and collegiate levels with the Student Music Awards since 1978.

The Standard Vocal Jazz Ensemble, directed by KCKCC Associate Professor of Music John Stafford II, was named both the Community College Winner in the category of Blues-Rock-Pop Group and a Community College Co-Winner in the Large Vocal Jazz Ensemble category.

Additionally, singer Noah Haskin was recognized as an Outstanding Scat Soloist for his solo on Standard’s recording of Justin Binek’s original composition “Reparations.” Singer-saxophonist Adam Bender received a Community College Outstanding Performance award in the Vocal Jazz Soloist Category.

Finally, KCKCC Assistant Professor of Music Justin Binek directed the 2019 Oklahoma Choral Directors Association All-State Jazz Chorus, which received an Outstanding Performance award in the Honors Vocal Jazz Ensemble category and featured singer Sarah Teel, who received Outstanding Soloist recognition for her work in the ensemble.

This continues a remarkable run of recognition for KCKCC from DownBeat, as the school’s students and faculty have now been the recipients of 14 “DeeBees” in the past four years. The Standard received Community College Outstanding Performance awards in the Large Vocal Jazz Ensemble category in 2017 and 2019 and in the Blues-Rock-Pop Group category in 2019.

Singer/guitarist Michael Schley received Outstanding Soloist recognition on The Standard’s 2019 recording of “Afro Blue,” arranged by Justin Binek. Instrumentally, the RSS Trio, featuring drummer Antonio Reyes, organist Mark Slimm and Schley, received a 2019 Community College Outstanding Performance for Small Jazz Combo. And in the Audio Engineering categories, Brady Rose was named the 2018 Community College Winner and received the 2019 Community College Outstanding Performance for Engineered Studio Recording, while Jordan Lankhorst received a 2017 Community College Outstanding Performance for Live Studio Recording.

“KCKCC’s Jazz Studies Program has a great history of producing outstanding musicians year after year, and this year is no exception,” Dr. Greg Mosier, KCKCC president. “I am extremely proud of the accomplishments of our students and faculty. It shows that with hard work, dedication and commitment anything is possible, even breaking the record books again with six DownBeat Magazine awards.”

This recognition of a single community college by DownBeat is extraordinary. In 2019, with the exception of KCKCC, no other community college in the country received more than three Student Music Awards, which is the most that any community college had received in a single year for several years prior.

“Our students and faculty are incredibly humbled by this honor,” Stafford said. “We take pride in our students’ work ethic and performance practice. Being recognized for creating music that is original and artistic is a joy for us, and greatly appreciated.”

These six Student Music awards are the culmination of an academic year in which the KCKCC Music and Audio Engineering Programs have repeatedly received national recognition. The Standard gave a main-stage performance at the American Choral Directors Association-Southwestern Division (SWACDA) Conference, and Professors Jim Mair (Instrumental Music Program Director), John Stafford II (Choral Music Program Director), Dr. Ian Corbett (Audio Engineering Program Director) and Dr. Justin Binek (Music Theory/Jazz Studies) have traveled extensively both nationally and internationally as performers, teachers, adjudicators and clinicians.

“It’s an honor for a school to receive even one SMA from DownBeat,” Binek said. “To receive six in one year and 11 in the past two is a testament to the wonderful students in our program and to the team of world-class faculty who are teaching and mentoring them.”

Three KCKCC freshmen among four all-region picks

Led by Jayhawk Conference Coach of the Year Brandon Burgette, KCKCC placed three Blue Devils on the All-Region VI team, from left – first team selection Jalen Davis and second teamers Robert Rhodes and Deron McDaniel. (KCKCC photo by Alan Hoskins)
A second team selection, KCKCC’s Kamryn Estell was the lone freshman named to the All-Region VI women’s team.

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC

If the makeup of the NJCAA All-Region VI Division II basketball teams is any indication, there’s good things ahead for Kansas City Kansas Community College teams.

Kamryn Estell is the lone freshman selected to the women’s team while the men’s team has just three frosh, two of them Blue Devils – Deron McDaniel and Robert Rhodes. All three were named to the Region VI second teams and are expected to be the foundation for next season.

They join sophomore Jalen Davis, the only KCKCC first team selection, on the regional honor teams. All four were also selected to All-Jayhawk Conference teams along Brandon Burgette, the Coach of the Year in his first season as Blue Devil mentor.

The Jayhawk men’s champion for the first time in history, the Blue Devils also won the Region VI championship and a berth in the national tournament erased by the coronavirus.

A 6-4 guard out of Houston, Davis led the Blue Devils in scoring at 13.9 points a game. Ninth in the nation in free throw percentage (.851), Davis was also third in the conference in 3-point accuracy (.397) and fourth in scoring. Davis scored in double figures in 18 of 31 games including six contests with 24 points or more and highs of 28, 29, 30 and 31.

Rhodes, a 6-7 forward out of Cypress Springs, Texas, was named the Jayhawk Defender of the Year after leading the conference in rebounds (9.3) and blocked shots (2.2) and pacing the Blue Devils in steals (1.3). Fourth in the conference in field goal percentage (.580), Rhodes had 10 double-doubles while averaging 8.2 points and 1.7 assists.

A 6-0 guard out of Next Level Prep, McDaniel led the Blue Devils in assists (3.3) and 3-point goals (68) and was fifth in the Jayhawk in scoring at 13.6 points a game. Scoring in double figures in 18 of 27 games including 9 of 10 conference games, McDaniel had nine games of 18 or more points with a high of 23.

Estell was named the Jayhawk Freshman of the Year. A 6-1 forward from Belton, Estell led the Blue Devils in scoring (15.0) and rebounds (7.2) despite being double and triple teamed throughout the season. The only Blue Devil in the starting lineup taller than 5-foot-7, she also led the Blue Devils in field goal accuracy (.560).

Co-runnerup to Labette in the women’s conference race, Highland placed three players on the all–sophomore first team –Armani Turner, Erin Randle and Tiana Gipson. Denisha Wilson of Labette and Johnson County’s Krystal Turner rounded out the first team while Labette’s Jessica Martino, Angel Williams and Diamond Jones and JCCC’s K.K. Jackson-Morris joined Estell on the second unit.

Highland’s Marquise Milton was the lone freshman on the men’s team. He was joined by teammate Rashon Johnson, JCCC’s JaQuaylon Mays and Lukas Milner and Davis on the first team while Kannon Jones and Craig Jordan of Fort Scott, Michael Flenory of Labette and Rhodes and McDaniel made up the second team.