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Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Staff photo: Kevin Wilson Fort Sumner’s Kylie Daughtery has signed a letter of intent to play basketball next season at Oklahoma Panhandle State University.
Managing editor
There wasn’t a moment when Kylie Daugherty first realized she could play basketball at the college level. Rather, no moment ever convinced her she didn’t have that shot.
link Staff photo: Kevin Wilson
Fort Sumner’s Kylie Daughtery has signed a letter of intent to play basketball next season at Oklahoma Panhandle State University.
“I’ve always liked basketball, and my brothers were really good athletes,” said the Fort Sumner senior. “I never really counted myself out.”
Daugherty indeed made that next step, signing Friday with Division II Oklahoma Panhandle State University in Goodwell.
A 5-foot-4 point guard who helped Fort Sumner reach the Class 2A semifinals, she said she hasn’t specifically spoken with Aggies coach Charles Terry about the possibility of redshirting, but she has received an indication she’d have a good chance to play as a freshman.
Fort Sumner coach Ben Segura said Daugherty has always been impressive, even though she had to recover from a torn ACL midway through her junior year.
“As a point guard, you could tell she had spent a lot of time working on her skills,” said Segura, who had two track athletes move on to college athletics when he coached at Raton. “She handled the ball really well, saw the floor really well.
“She went to a tryout and skills were enough that a coach was interested in giving her a look. I think they made the right decision. She does work hard.”
She’ll be joining a team that can use any talent upgrade it gets. The Aggies went 2-24 last season, including 1-17 in the Heartland Conference, and are 10-96 over their last four seasons, and they graduate seven seniors from the 2015-16 roster.
Terry, who has coached both the men’s and women’s programs at OPSU, could not be reached for comment.
Daugherty, who plans to major in pre-med while at OPSU, said she probably needs to improve every element of her game to make the jump.
“Everybody’s going to be a lot faster and be a lot bigger,” Daugherty said. “I need to work on the basics ... and do everything I can do (to prepare).”
