Thread Rating:
03-09-2012, 09:35 PM
Kelsey Carmack has been chasing ghosts throughout her athletic career.
The youngest member of a family of highly accomplished athletes, Carmack committed to play basketball at Midway College on Wednesday afternoon at a ceremony in the Deming High School gym.
She will be attending the same school where her mother was a three-time All-American and at one time was its all-time leading scorer.
Kelsey is used to following in the footsteps of her family members. Her mom Adrienne held Deming's girls' basketball scoring title before her sister Erin took that spot in 2007-08.
"My mom was supportive (of my decision), but she's not the main reason I'm going (to Midway)," Kelsey said. "It's close to home and my parents can come watch me play as much as they have the chance. It felt like home. It's small, and it's a team where I can play (right away) and not sit."
Despite the natural tendency to compare Kelsey to that of her elder family members, she is her own person.
"Because my parents and sister played sports was not my reason to play," she said. "I wanted to play because I wanted (internally) to do better (and be the best I could). My parents did not make me play."
One difference between Kelsey and her mom and sister is knee injuries. The youngest Carmack has suffered three of them, but rebounded from each to return to the court.
Kelsey Carmack started playing varsity basketball for Deming around Christmas of her seventh-grade year. She spent her entire eighth-grade season with the team, before suffering an injury to her left knee with five games remaining in her freshman year. As a sophomore, she hurt her right knee during the early moments of the team's second scrimmage, forcing her to miss that entire season. She returned as a junior and reinjured her left knee in the first game, but worked her way back onto the floor by Christmas break and has stayed injury free ever since.
"I was extremely motivated after my two ACL surgeries, but I have a passion to play sports. Not playing sports makes me sick," she said. "When I was young, playing sports was all I did. Without sports, it's almost like I felt that, I'm not Kelsey."
Those injuries differentiated her from her relatives, who played their entire careers without being sidelined by knee problems.
"Everyone always said, âWill you be next (to break the school scoring record)?' and once I realized I wouldn't be able to, I felt like I let people down."
Bouncing back from those adversities has molded her into who she is now.
"Just the fact that she signed a letter to play college basketball after two ACL surgeries is a testament of how hard she has worked," Deming girls' basketball coach Thomas Mitchell said. "Her hard work in the gym and in the classroom has led to this day."
It is that internal drive, among other traits, that caught the attention of Midway women's basketball coach Karley Mohler.
"She is a highly-intelligent young lady. She knows the game. I went to watch her play once and she was having a bad game and her team was down, but even though she wasn't scoring like she was used to, there was a point in the game where she stepped in front of a girl that was quicker than her and took a charge," Mohler said. "It's the little things like that, that a head coach notices."
Mohler envisions Carmack moving from her high school position in the post to that of a combo forward.
"You see that knee brace and her size, and you think she can't play the âthree', but she is quick in a lot of ways and part of that is because of her intelligence," Mohler said. "She's got good shooting form and good size, she's a good passer from the âfour' position, she works hard, listens, and is smart enough to take what she learned and apply it."
Shifting to a role that moves her away from the basket does not deter Carmack.
"Since the off-season (began), I've been working on getting stronger, especially my legs, and getting my cardio up. I've also been working on my shooting every day," she said. "Technically, (at Midway) I'll be a small forward. Just because I didn't play (that position) in high school, doesn't mean I can't play there in college. In high school, we already had people playing (small forward) who were good, so I mostly stayed in the post."
Not surprisingly, Carmack's experiences will guide her career path. At Midway, she plans on majoring in biology.
"I want to be a success on the basketball court and get my degree and become a physical therapist," the straight-A student said of her long-term goals. "I may be going (to Midway) because of basketball, but I want to do well in the classroom and on the floor."
Read more: http://www.maysville-online.com/sports/d...z1ofhJWpCZ
The youngest member of a family of highly accomplished athletes, Carmack committed to play basketball at Midway College on Wednesday afternoon at a ceremony in the Deming High School gym.
She will be attending the same school where her mother was a three-time All-American and at one time was its all-time leading scorer.
Kelsey is used to following in the footsteps of her family members. Her mom Adrienne held Deming's girls' basketball scoring title before her sister Erin took that spot in 2007-08.
"My mom was supportive (of my decision), but she's not the main reason I'm going (to Midway)," Kelsey said. "It's close to home and my parents can come watch me play as much as they have the chance. It felt like home. It's small, and it's a team where I can play (right away) and not sit."
Despite the natural tendency to compare Kelsey to that of her elder family members, she is her own person.
"Because my parents and sister played sports was not my reason to play," she said. "I wanted to play because I wanted (internally) to do better (and be the best I could). My parents did not make me play."
One difference between Kelsey and her mom and sister is knee injuries. The youngest Carmack has suffered three of them, but rebounded from each to return to the court.
Kelsey Carmack started playing varsity basketball for Deming around Christmas of her seventh-grade year. She spent her entire eighth-grade season with the team, before suffering an injury to her left knee with five games remaining in her freshman year. As a sophomore, she hurt her right knee during the early moments of the team's second scrimmage, forcing her to miss that entire season. She returned as a junior and reinjured her left knee in the first game, but worked her way back onto the floor by Christmas break and has stayed injury free ever since.
"I was extremely motivated after my two ACL surgeries, but I have a passion to play sports. Not playing sports makes me sick," she said. "When I was young, playing sports was all I did. Without sports, it's almost like I felt that, I'm not Kelsey."
Those injuries differentiated her from her relatives, who played their entire careers without being sidelined by knee problems.
"Everyone always said, âWill you be next (to break the school scoring record)?' and once I realized I wouldn't be able to, I felt like I let people down."
Bouncing back from those adversities has molded her into who she is now.
"Just the fact that she signed a letter to play college basketball after two ACL surgeries is a testament of how hard she has worked," Deming girls' basketball coach Thomas Mitchell said. "Her hard work in the gym and in the classroom has led to this day."
It is that internal drive, among other traits, that caught the attention of Midway women's basketball coach Karley Mohler.
"She is a highly-intelligent young lady. She knows the game. I went to watch her play once and she was having a bad game and her team was down, but even though she wasn't scoring like she was used to, there was a point in the game where she stepped in front of a girl that was quicker than her and took a charge," Mohler said. "It's the little things like that, that a head coach notices."
Mohler envisions Carmack moving from her high school position in the post to that of a combo forward.
"You see that knee brace and her size, and you think she can't play the âthree', but she is quick in a lot of ways and part of that is because of her intelligence," Mohler said. "She's got good shooting form and good size, she's a good passer from the âfour' position, she works hard, listens, and is smart enough to take what she learned and apply it."
Shifting to a role that moves her away from the basket does not deter Carmack.
"Since the off-season (began), I've been working on getting stronger, especially my legs, and getting my cardio up. I've also been working on my shooting every day," she said. "Technically, (at Midway) I'll be a small forward. Just because I didn't play (that position) in high school, doesn't mean I can't play there in college. In high school, we already had people playing (small forward) who were good, so I mostly stayed in the post."
Not surprisingly, Carmack's experiences will guide her career path. At Midway, she plans on majoring in biology.
"I want to be a success on the basketball court and get my degree and become a physical therapist," the straight-A student said of her long-term goals. "I may be going (to Midway) because of basketball, but I want to do well in the classroom and on the floor."
Read more: http://www.maysville-online.com/sports/d...z1ofhJWpCZ
![[-]](https://bluegrassrivals.com/forum/images/lifestyle/collapse.png)
03-09-2012, 09:35 PM
Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)
