Haylee Keats '21 Recruiting Profile

            Growing up in the gym watching my dad play basketball has made it second nature for me to play the game.  I would play on the sidelines building my love of the game, dribbling and shooting against the wall.  Everyone always says, oh your dad is a coach and plays basketball, he must have forced you to play.  This is not true.  My dad introduced me to the game, everything else came from me wanting it.  I would watch him play, seeing the open man down low, making the no look pass for the assist.  These type of plays is what sparked my interest in the game of basketball.  I wanted to make those same type of plays.  Once my love of the game got stronger, I started asking my dad to take me to the gym to build my skills.  We would work on drills and shoot around.  Once he knew this was the sport I wanted to do, I started to play in "Rez" ball tournaments.  In the 1st-3rd grade division I was very timid.  They were co-ed teams and that intimidated me.  I started getting more comfortable handling the ball and playing against the boys.  Once I was in the 4th-6th grade division I didn't care that I was playing against boys.  I just played the game I loved.  This was the same time that I started playing on my AAU team, Jam On It.  The coaches and players were so welcoming.  They made me feel comfortable which helped with my nerves starting with a new team.  I was put through skill drills to see where I could fit on there team.  Once they saw my dribbling skills and the way I saw the floor they made me the point guard.  They challenged me with more dribbling and shooting drills, that I would take home and perfect on my own time, just building my love for the game more.  My next task was to learn how to be more vocal.  Being the point guard you are the play maker.  The leader on the court and team.  You need to be able to tell your teammates what they may not see.  This part was more difficult for me, but with playing Rez Ball and AAU it started getting easier and easier.  Once I got into high school, I made the Varsity team as a freshman and was made one of the team captains.  All my hard work was paying off.  

            Playing ball in college is one of my all time dreams.  I have worked hard on the court as well as in the classroom.  I currently maintain straight A's in the classroom and I am taking honors English and math.  I would like to study to become an athletic trainer in college.  I have completed health science and am currently taking medical terminology to build my knowledge in this field.  At this time I have not narrowed down which college I would like to attend, but I know I would like to get out of the state of Nevada.