MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The next time Morgantown High rising junior Kaitlyn Ammons returns home, she’ll be doing so as a national champion.
Ammons — as a member Philadelphia Belles 16U travel team — emerged victorious in the 17U bracket at the U.S. Junior National Championships in Washington D.C. this week. The Belles are currently competing to earn yet another title, this time in 16U bracket. If the team can complete the sweep, it would be a first in the club’s history.
“This experience has been awesome. This is our last week together as a team for our season and it has been emotional,” Ammons said. “We’re just trying to enjoy every minute of it. We’re just hoping to win again in the next bracket, honestly. No team has ever won both of these brackets for the Belles before and we want to be the first group to do that.”
“It’s an opportunity she’s created for herself through her hard work and dedication to the sport,” Morgantown girls basketball head coach Jason White added. “To even be able to make that team is a huge honor, and now to see her accomplish her goal of winning a national championship is wonderful.”
The team’s performance is an appropriate end to an exciting summer for Ammons. The week before the tournament victory, Ammons garnered an offer from Murray State, bringing her to nine total offers thus far. Youngstown State, Duquesne, Campbell, Marshall, Radford, Robert Morris, Delaware and Towson have also extended offers.
“It’s awesome. There are girls getting bigger offers than me, sure, but I’m content with how my recruiting process has been,” Ammons said. “I just want to go out, have fun and play the best I can every single game.”
The next tournament will feature a large number of high-profile recruits in the upcoming classes and serves as a showcase for young athletes to demonstrate what they can bring to a program.
Ammons has hopes her performance at the tournament will garner further attention from colleges, as she was able to string together a series of impressive performances in front of several Power Five coaches and scouts.
“I’ve been really hoping for some Power Five offers, and I ended up playing really good against some big schools in our last bracket,” she said. “I’m hoping something will come from that. To look down the sideline and see all of these coaches you see and hear about on TV and they have their notebooks out writing down notes about you and your teammates, it’s such a great feeling.
White also expects Ammons will turn some heads at the event but believes her biggest attribute is her mindset and approach to the sport.
“She’s goal oriented and driven. The first time she stepped in our gym, her goal was to win a state championship and play at the next level, and she’s making that happen,” he said. “She’s halfway through high school and has offers from Division I schools. We’re just seeing the tip of the iceberg, and some college coach is going to get a kid that’s driven to be successful.”
