Kankakee Community College sophomore Kayce Nagel has agreed to continue her education and basketball career at IU Northwest beginning the Fall of 2014. The 6'1" forward/center from Peotone, IL averaged 4.4 points and 2.8 rebounds per game this season for the 28-8 Cavaliers who claimed the National Junior College Association Region IV Championship and advanced to the 2014 NJCAA National Tournament.
Kankakee, a perennial national junior college power ripped off 13 consecutive wins in the midst of their 28-win campaign including a dominant 89-59 win over Moraine Valley in which Nagel posted a career high 19 points and 9 rebounds in the victory. The following week, Nagel hit double digits again with 14 points and 9 boards in narrow 87-84 win over national-power Parkland and later posted 9 points in 5 boards in just 17 minutes in KCC's opening round national tournament loss to Kishawaukee.
"Kayce's blend of strength of athleticism along with her experience from a highly successful program will be valued on our team this coming season. Her ability to defend and rebound on both ends of the floor will be a tremendous asset to our roster. We see her offensive numbers improving significantly with increased opportunity as KCC had one of the deepest and biggest front-lines in the nation. Kayce's tremendous work-ethic will fit in great with our current roster as she is a great teammate representing all of the characteristics that we value in our basketball program," said IU Northwest. Head Coach Ryan Shelton.
In recent years the RedHawks have experienced tremendous success with junior college post players transferring into the program. Valerie Zulevic (Moraine Valley) was the team's second leading scorer and rebounder in her first season with IU Northwest, while Megan Holland (Kalamazoo Valley) and Danielle Zandstra (Prairie State) were both A.I.I. All-Confernce selections in their first season with the RedHawks. This past season Zandstra was named A.I.I. Defensive Player of the Year while Holland was named the A.I.I.'s Player of the Year and earned NAIA All-American recognition.
Nagel will join a RedHawks front-court next season with senior Danielle Zandtsra, and highly touted freshmen Morgan Flaharty (Hobart) Jill Rosenbaum (South Central). As a prep, Nagel was an all-conference selection averaging 8.4 points and 5.7 rebounds while blocking 79 shots in thee varsity seasons for Peotone High School. "Kayce steps right into a position of need for us with the departures of senior Megan (Holland) and Valerie (Zulevic) and with her size, strength and skill-set expect her to be a major contributor right away," added Shelton.
Nagel averaged a career best 10.5 points during her junior season and was a three-sport star at PHS in basketball, volleyball and track advancing to the state finals in the discus her senior year. An outstanding student, Kayce intends to major in Psychology at IU Northwest and will wear #00 next season for the RedHawks.