University of Minnesota Athletics
What They're Saying About Kayla Hirt
11/10/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
What They're Saying About . . . Kayla Hirt
ESPN HoopGurlz Evaluation
Following 2010 NIKE Nationals:
Continued the steady play that always seems to come from her. The perimeter skills she has gives her the opportunity to create against a lot of less mobile forward match ups. She's more aggressive in her attack and seems to reading defenders more efficiently. You still find yourself wanting more from the 15-foot range at times and the potential appears to be there. Aggressive and effective on the boards. (Lewis)
Following Boo Williams Invitational:
Impressive combination of size and versatility. She has the ability to put the ball on the floor and create as well as go inside and work effectively. Her active efforts at the offensive end keep defenders busy and make her a threat with and without the ball. She's got good mobility and can run the floor on the break. Strength development will be critical as she moves on to the next level.
Following Nike Regional Skills:
Kayla Hirt is a coaches dream, but the 6-2 forward has already committed to Pam Borton and the home state Gophers of Minnesota. There is no chance of outworking this kid in drills or game play; if you can keep up with her you're doing just fine. The Bemidji High School star has a great basketball body and her aggressive style of play and athleticism make her a handful. She has great lift and her strength allows her to explode through contact in the lane. She takes instruction well and isn't afraid of failing at new skills. She is a forward now but is one prospect that could really play the wing as well. She has the vision and passing skills with improving ballhandling to play away from the basket. The biggest area for improvement is her perimeter shooting. Her guide hand is too active and she doesn't get full extension with her shooting hand, which leads to inconsistent results. Her lower body and strength allow her to create nice looks off of pull-ups, so focusing in on her shooting mechanics is the key.
Rick Kehoe, head coach, Bemidji High School
"Kayla's meant the world to our program over the last three, four years. Not just with her play. She's a tremendous athlete. She's got tremendous skills, but her work ethic, just how she carries herself, what she does during the season, out of season, how she's a leader on the team. It's everything. There's a lot of good basketball players, but Kayla has so much more going for her other than just her basketball skills. Just the impact she's had on my youth teams and my kids is amazing."
On Kayla's ACL injury (she had surgery in early September, and will miss her senior season):
"It's been tough. She's handled it better than I probably could ever handle it if I was in her situation. She's very strong about it. Obviously, there's times when she's brought to tears because she knows that she's not going to play her senior year, but she's ready to be a leader. I've already talked to her about expectations this year. She was going to be a captain. I'm probably going to keep her as a captain this year. I'm going to give her some roles and jobs. As far as practices, she's going to be taking care of stations in drills and I'm going to put her to work. I told her already that she's going to be more or less one of my assistant coaches. There's going to be jobs that she's going to have to do. So I'm going to try to keep her busy and as involved as possible. The worst thing that can happen to her is just to sit there and do nothing all season long. She's been very happy about it. She's looking forward to it. It's going to be tough. Right now it's easy to say that, 'Yeah, this will be good. This is what I want to do.' But I'm sure, once the games start, it's going to be something that she's going to have to adjust to and get used to."
Kayla's known as such a hard worker. Is it going to be tough for her to rest as much as she needs to?:
"That's going to be the toughest thing for her. Once it starts healing and feeling better, she's going to have that urge to want to push it and push it and it's just going to be a matter of the people around her -- the trainer, and people taking care of her -- making sure she doesn't (do too much too soon). I think she's smart enough to listen. She is. She knows better. It's just that she's going to need somebody in her ear every once in awhile, saying, 'Kayla, you've got to pull back.' But it's her work ethic and her desire that's really going to pull her through, because it's going to be a long rehabilitation. With her drive and desire, it's not going to be something that she's not going to be able to overcome. On the contrary, she's going to rehab probably sooner than most people would be able to."
On Kayla's personality:
"That's one of the things I'm so blessed with. I've seen so many athletes that are tough to approach, tough to talk to, or have an arrogance about them. Kayla's almost the exact opposite. She's so unassuming. If she's around a group of people, you'd never guess that she's the talented superstar that she is. She's very humble about her abilities. She doesn't go around and brag. That's one of the reasons that she's been so accepted by the other players. Even when she came in as a freshman, she was the best player on the team, but because of the way she carried herself and was so respectful, the older players never even questioned that she should be playing. On the contrary, they expected her to play, and they were happy when she succeeded, too. She gets along with all the players. She doesn't yell or drive or try to push kids. She just does it by example by being the hardest worker. She's the last to leave the gym, the first one in there, and she leads by example. Kids just like her. She has lots and lots of friends. I can't think of anybody I've come across who would say that they don't like Kayla because of who she is. She's just a good person all around. Part of it is from her parents. Her parents are such good people. From the time I started coaching her, they've been nothing but appreciative for everything I did. I'd like to think I had a little bit to do with her development, but not as much as they probably give me credit for. Her parents are such good people and they instill that in their daughter. She's just a good, good kid."
Expectations for Kayla at Minnesota:
"I see her being used as just a matchup nightmare for other teams. If you want to put somebody smaller on her, she's going to go outside and shoot over the top, or go inside and post them up. If you want to put a bigger girl on her, she'll bring her outside, and she'll be able to drive around her. Her ballhandling skills are great, and we expect them to get better. And her range has gotten so long in the last couple years. Last year, she was hitting shots six or seven feet behind the arc. You know, no hesitation shooting. Her three-point shooting has become tremendous. Her mid-range game is just unbelievable. She's probably a sixty-percent shooter from 15 feet. Her shot is so good, and she's worked so hard on it, it's almost like a lay-up for her at times. So I just see her being able to play wherever she needs to in order to present matchup problems for the other team. I think she'll be able to handle the point guard spot at times. She can play the off-guard, the shooting guard. If she needs to play the power forward, or small forward, I think she can go down and play that. She's just going to be able to present matchup difficulties for other teams."
Is there excitement in Bemidji about her signing with the Gophers?:
"I don't know if there's that much excitement. People have known about it for so long, it's almost like the perception is that she's already signed with the Gophers. It's been almost three years now since she verbaled that she was going to the Gophers. That's where she's going. So I don't know if there's a lot of people that really realize that the letter of intent signing is coming up. She's the talk of the town. Everybody up here knows that she's going to the Gophers, and are really excited to go down there and be able to watch her and be able to follow her career for the home state team."
Bill Larson, director, North Tartan AAU Program
On the dedication of Kayla Hirt to continue to improve:
"Plain and simple, if the Gophers have to pay for gym time, they're going to lose out on this deal big time. They're going to have to pay a lot of overtime to custodians to keep the gym open long enough for Kayla. She is not going to leave the gym. She's a kid who drove down from Bemidji for (North Tartan AAU) practices, her parents would rent a hotel room, and she'd be at practice on Saturday. And that was for three years straight, without missing a single practice. And she verballed so early (during her sophomore season, Oct. 1, 2008), that she could have very easily taken off certain games or practices, but she did not want to miss a thing, she wanted to continue to get better. And it was a great deal for our program that we made sure that our practices were not wasting anyone's time, including hers, which really raised the level of play in our own gym, as a program. She was making this commitment, driving four hours and 15 minutes, so we couldn't afford to waste her time and it was a big plus for our program. But, like I say, you're going to have to kick her out, because she's not going to leave (the gym). So, if shootaround is an hour before the game, you better open it up two hours before the game."
On her drive to recover from her ACL injury:
"She is so driven, she started working out even before the surgery happened. She is way ahead of schedule already. We just have to make sure that we don't push this thing too fast. But, at the same time, I think her parents are going to have to yell at her a little bit to keep her off the floor. The good thing is, there's no question in anyone's mind that she's not going to be ready to play (for the Gophers) when she comes to campus next June. She'll be ready to go, and that's the biggest thing. Coach Borton did a wonderful thing by honoring her commitment to Kayla, and that shows great dedication by the University, and by the (women's basketball) staff, and they won't regret it."
On Kayla's skills on the basketball court:
"Her speed and athleticism is incredible. Her drive to the basket is virtually unstoppable, and she's been working on her mid-range game, where she was making some floaters in the lane. I've seen her feel so good in games, that if she comes in (to the U of M) in anywhere near the shape she was in this past June, prior to the injury, she's going to be a big, big part of the program."
On the impact of Minnesota adding Kayla Hirt and Rachel Banham:
"I have a lot of kids in a lot of programs throughout the Big Ten -- I think we have eight to 10 who are playing in the Big Ten right now -- but, with these two individuals, teams are going to have to figure out ways to keep the ball out of their hands. And, by playing in our program, they've already played against kids who are going to the ACC or the SEC, and they've already played against kids who are Big Ten caliber players for the past couple summers. So, they're just going to have to adapt to what Coach Borton wants, and what her staff asks them to do, and I think they'll be able to make an immediate impact to help the Gophers win Big Ten games. The last time we had this many (there will be six with the addition of Hirt and Banham) North Tartan players on the Gophers' roster, they went to the Final Four."
Mark Lewis, ESPN HoopGurlz
On Hirt's top skill:
"Her versatility. She's got a good combination inside, and the skill set that she can get in the middle and mix it up a little bit. She can work out of the high post a little bit. She can step out on the wing or in a four-out set. Versatility, and the combination of skills, and there's a real maturity to her game. She's shown a real maturity on the floor for a long time."
On Minnesota's recruiting class of Hirt and Rachel Banham:
"I think they're both impact players. The experience they've had playing at a high level with their club team (North Tartan) over the last several years has shown that they can compete, that they're top tier players in the country in their age group. Banham just had an exceptional summer this year and really stood out at Nike Nationals, and established herself as probably one of the premier point guards in the class. She's just tapping in to what she's capable of. I think folks are excited to see her next year, but they're going to be really excited to see her down the road. Kayla Hirt has kind of been on the radar a little bit longer, and really just had steady growth of her game throughout the years. She's got good size, but has post skills and perimeter skills, as well as a little bit of potential at the forward spot. She's physically strong, and that can make an impact in a conference like the Big Ten that plays so physical. These are outstanding players who could have gone a lot of places, and they chose to stay home."
Dan Olson, Collegiate Girls Basketball Report
On Minnesota's recruiting class of Hirt and Rachel Banham:
"Rachel had a really good summer. She does one thing better than a lot of other players do, and that's score the ball from deep, which is always a nice luxury to have. I think in (the Big Ten Conference), it's such a tough league from top to bottom, but she has a chance to really come in and make an impact right away, because she can do just that, she can score. Everybody covets one of these kind of kids like that -- that's a shooter. Kayla Hirt, on the other hand, is a pretty consistent player with good size. (Minnesota) got two in-state players who played together during the summer season a lot, so I think they're very familiar with each other. Hirt has that ability also. She's an offensively skilled player who's kind of a versatile player and a tough matchup. I think that that's happening in the course of women's basketball, to a certain extent. You're seeing (fewer) of these true post players, like the big kid you had at Minnesota there a few years ago, (Janel) McCarville. You don't necessarily see a lot of those kids anymore. You see a lot of these very versatile, multi-dimensional players, and that's Kayla Hirt. She can score from 15 feet, but can play with her back to the basket just as well, and can get and out and run and play in an up-tempo, fast game just like you can get with your smaller guards on the perimeter. They (will) be playing early in their career. They didn't come to Minnesota to sit. I think they're very capable of being able to play and make an impact in their careers."
