Keena Mays got her shot to show what she could do when Alexia Standish went down at the U.S. Junior Nationals. Now she is going to get her shot to show the Big 12 what she's made of.
It was a new start for Keena Mays this summer, her first with the Cy-Fair Shock. After a summer in which several colleges moved on her late because of her play, she had plenty of options and as many expect of top players in Texas, a Big 12 school won out.
For Mays the early commitment of Odyssey Sims to Baylor took one of her top in-state options off the table early, though she also considered Texas A&M. Nevertheless it was Kansas and the Jayhawks program that stood out to the No. 93 ranked player in the ESPN HoopGurlz Hundred from early on. Tuesday she called and committed to head coach Bonnie Hendrickson.
The Arlington, Texas, native felt the urge to go to a program that she felt she could make an impact on and help build something special. For her family the school is an eight hour drive but better yet, being in the Big 12 means they will be able to see her play on the road a lot with the plethora of teams in the Lone Star State.
"That played a big factor," her mother Teresa Mays said, "being in the Big 12 with all those Texas teams like A&M and Baylor. We're very excited for her."
Mays picked the Jayhawks after considering California, Central Florida, Illinois, Miami, North Carolina State and Texas A&M. She just recently made an unofficial visit to Miami this past weekend and made visits to all her finalists except N.C. State.
"Ultimately it's where I felt most comfortable," Mays said.
The Jayhawks recruited her as a point guard though her explosiveness and knack for scoring should allow her to play either guard position.
But the big question this summer is where the heck did this kid come from? Mays has been on the recruiting radar for a while but her play this summer was at another level. Both she and her mom thought having the opportunity to do more had a big part to in her success.
"I played well I think," Mays said reflecting on her summer. "I think when Alexia (Standish) got hurt it allowed me to show coach Rob (Amboree) what I could do."
With Mays taking over for Standish in D.C. at US Junior Nationals culminated with the team winning the tournament. To get there she had to play all 32 minutes of the team's semifinal matchup with the Fairfax Stars.
Then heading into its biggest summer tournament of the year armed with two capable point guards the team made a great run at Nike Nationals. In pool play they knocked off the team, Cal Swish, which won the entire tournament.
Cy-Fair Shock's director, Al Coleman, said her play was so strong in the first half of July that she was getting interest from UConn as well as the other programs she considered.
With the college decision out of the way her focus now shifts back to Arlington and Timberview High School. The 5-foot-7 guard helped lead her team to the state finals before falling to Midway High School. With Mays new confidence this could be the year that Timberview cuts down the nets.
