Kendall Hackney
Kendall Hackney sent this photo to the USC staff to indicate her
school choice (photo courtesy Hackney family).
Kendall Hackney, a junior at Mount Notre Dame Prep, has enjoyed plenty of success in her prep basketball career. She has won three straight Ohio Division I championships and has also decided where she will play collegiate basketball. Hackney verbally committed to USC and head coach Mark Trakh on Tuesday.
There never really was any serious competition for the Trojans, though Kentucky, to which Hackney took an unofficial visit, probably came the closest. Arizona State, Florida, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Purdue also were in the mix at various times. Hackney said she tried to keep an open mind in her recruitment but kept coming back to USC as her perfect fit.
Hackney, who is No. 39 in the HoopGurlz Super Sixty for 2009, is USC's second top-40 commitment since the end of the high-school season. In March, the Trojans received a verbal from 6-foot-2 scorer Christina Marinacci, No. 17 in the class, who is from Santa Ana, Calif.
A year ago Hackney made an unofficial visit and fell in love. She connects well with the coaches, the players and the academic offerings. She is very interested in Communications and Southern California has one of the nation’s elite departments in that field of study. The coaching staff left her feeling like the program was very family oriented. In assistants Derek and Jody Wynn, the women of Troy have one of the few married couples within one staff.
Kendall Hackney can score inside and out
(photo by Glenn Nelson).
“I love the open door policy and how they really care for their players,” Hackney said. “You can always go to them for everything, not just basketball.”
Hackney also connected well with the current players - in particular, Kate Henderson. Connecting with a walk-on of all players is unique but the two share a common faith. Hackney was impressed with the Athletes in Action ministry on campus and Henderson is involved in it. The two have been cell phone, Facebook and text message buddies since.
Moving from Cincinnati to Los Angeles may seem like a major change but the southern California life is not foreign to Hackney. When she was six years old the family moved from Ohio to San Diego for her father’s work. They lived in San Diego for six years before moving back to Ohio when she was 12 years old. She has missed the weather ever since.
Hackney is also into music and theater so the move to Los Angeles makes even more sense. She enjoys playing the piano and sings though there are no plans for auditioning for American Idol.
While she misses the weather, missing jumpers isn’t something Hackney does very often. At 6-2, she is a player who is versatile and can play both inside and out. Her range extends to the 3-point line, she sees the floor well, gets her teammates involved, defends and has a great base of fundamentals. If anything she defers to her teammates too often and hasn’t played as aggressive as she could with her talent.
“I definitely need to work on my ballhandling,” Hackney said. “I need to be more aggressive and attack the basket more. There’s always room for improvement.”
Hackney this past weekend participated in the Nike Regional Skills Academy in Philadelphia, Pa. There she was pitted against the nation’s elite, head-to-head.
“It was a blessing to be there,” Hackney said of the opportunity to learn from and test herself against some of the best players in her region. During the ride home, she and her father, Ed, decided the timing was right to commit to USC.
In Hackney, the Trojans get size they desperately need. The program is packed with explosive perimeter players and Hackney gives it a big forward with a lot of wing skills and shooting range. Adding her abilities to those already in the program gives the team the flexibility to play both three-guard and four-guard lineups and really stretch defenses out.
If USC can land another big, perhaps a true post player, the team will be well-positioned to make a major move up the Pac-10 standings. Its ascendance up the standings was expected over the past two years but was significantly impacted by several major injuries -- something the staff hopes is behind them. The injuries to Camille Lenoir (hip), Jacki Gemelos (ACL twice) and Stefanie Gilbreath (ACL) along with the pregnancy of Bryn Cameron put the program's rise temporarily on hold.
