by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC sports information
Defense and playmaking do matter, especially when it comes to basketball All-Americans.
Second in the nation in both steals and assists, Aliyah Myers is the seventh Kansas City Kansas Community College Division II first team All-American as selected by the NJCAA. The Defensive Player of the Year in the Jayhawk Conference, Myers was also named to the first All-Region and All–Jayhawk teams.
“Aliyah is the most complete guard I’ve had in my tenure and definitely the most decorated guard I’ve had,” KCKCC coach Joe McKinstry said. “To be recognized as being one of the top players in the nation is certainly deserving.”
“Shocked and real happy,” said Myers, a 5-7 sophomore point guard from Derby, Kansas, who also finished second in scoring (13.5) and third in rebounding (5.5) in leading the Blue Devils to a 21-4 record, the Plains Regional championship and a berth in the NJCAA Division II national tournament.
Myers finished the season with 80 steals and 120 assists despite the season being shortened by 10 games because of the COVID pandemic. Her 10 steals against Hesston are the third most in KCKCC history and her 150 career steals are the ninth most.
“She could guard anywhere from the one to the four spot and do it very, very well,” McKinstry said. “She was great on the ball but she was also always in the right spot to help on and off the ball.”
A tireless defender who usually drew an opponent’s best offensive player, Myers played 684 minutes, the 12th most in the country.
“I just wanted to play every game being tough and giving 100 percent energy all the time,” Myers said. “It’s been my role all through high school and it didn’t change in college.”
Myers was almost bypassed coming out of Derby High School.
“One of my teammates went to Oregon State, another committed to Missouri State so I was overlooked,” Myers said. “At first I was not looking at junior colleges. I wanted to play NCAA Division I or II. But then I talked to my high school coach and he had good things to say about coach McKinstry so I reached out to him and took my visit.”
Myers will get a chance to play NCAA II basketball. She’s signed to play at Pittsburg State this coming season.
“I liked their style of play and it kind of felt like home because of the warm welcome I got from the coaches and players,” she said.
With the loss of Pittsburg State’s starting point guard, Myers is expected to have an immediate impact.
In her two years at KCKCC, the Blue Devils were 46-11.
“Obviously we were hoping the season would have ended better but I’m happy with what we accomplished,” Myers said. “We put ourselves in position to play in the national tournament and not all teams can do that. Playing for coach McKinstry made me a better player. I came in every day with the mindset of getting better and listening to him and buying into his program for sure made me better.”
Other Blue Devils to earn first team All-America recognition include Aneta Kausaite, 1996; Jurgita Kausaite, 1997; Stephanie Brown, 2005; Cierra Gaines, 2015; Cheyenne North, 2016; and Niji Collier, 2019. In addition, Cassidy Harbert earned honorable mention on the 2014 Community College All-America team chosen by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association and Kisi Young was named to the NJCAA Division II second team in 2019.