Lady Cats head to a variety of colleges

The Conway Lady Cat tree is college basketball is becoming a forest. Many varieties. All places to blossom. By this time next week, all eight seniors who played for the Lady Cats last season will have signed with a college team. Alumni from the last two years include Jordan Danberry, who transferred from the University of Arkansas and is primed to play for NCAA runner-up Mississippi State next year; Alexis Tolefree, who led Jones County Community College in Mississippi to the national junior college semifinals; and Hailey Estes, who had a successful freshman season at Mississippi State. This year’s class includes a variety pack of colleges and universities from NCAA I to NAIA: UCA (Savannah Lowe), Arkansas Tech (Jacie Higgins), Southern Arkansas (Maggie Evans), Central Baptist (KK Ashworth), LSU-Shreveport (Fut’ra Banks), Southwest Christian of Kansas (Eryka Lewis), and Brianna and Alyssa Wells (Southwest Assemblies of God). The nicknames are indeed a variety pack, including Golden Suns, Lady Muleriders, Sugar Bears and Mound Builders. There is a common thread besides Conway blue. The last five signees (Lowe, Banks, Lewis and the Wells) all signed with school with purple in the main color scheme. This goes beyond color and beyond basketball. Coach Ashley Nance likes for her players to have as many entry points as possible to obtain a college education with many expenses paid. The level is not as important as the fit. “These players don’t fully appreciate it now, but they will in a few years to have the chance to have their education paid for and not have to write a check for student loans every month; that’s huge,” Nance said. “We compete at the highest level possible in Arkansas, we’ve had talent and we’ve had success. The players have spent time around good players. We play against good competition. “I tell the girls that if they put in the work, they will be noticed by someone.” But it’ll be different — at every school, big or small. “Their lives are about to change,” she said. “Playing college basketball is a job. It’s not like high school and you’ve got to realize that. But you’re getting a lot of the expenses for that education paid for by doing that job.” The important aspect is to find the right fit — from a coaching staff to the college’s curriculum and location to how the program fits a skill set. In some case, there is a fine line between happiness and misery. But the main thing is realizing there are a variety of options, no matter the size of the school or the level of the program.

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Conway High School Athletics

LADY CATS HEAD TO A VARIETY OF COLLEGES

DAVID MCCOLLUM

The Cabin | 4/13/2017

PHOTO CREDIT: Conway Athletics