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‘This kid is special:’ Libby Fandel’s brilliant Xavier career concludes this week
Girls’ state basketball: Fandel ranks as the second-leading scorer in Metro history, and is ‘just scratching the surface,’ according to University of Kansas assistant
Mar. 2, 2025 9:00 am, Updated: Mar. 2, 2025 9:18 am
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CEDAR RAPIDS — Tom Lilly could have gone out on top in 2022.
He was 67 years old. His girls’ basketball team at Cedar Rapids Xavier had just won a state championship.
But he kept going. The allure of a 600th career win was a secondary motivation.
The primary reason? She stood across Ron Thillen Gymnasium during practice Thursday afternoon, wearing a navy practice jersey, No. 13.
Libby Fandel.
“She’s the main reason I stuck around,” Lilly said. “This kid is special. We knew it from the day she joined us as a freshman.”
Lilly saw it then. Morgan Paige sees it now.
“She’s just scratching the surface,” said Paige, who helped recruit Fandel to the University of Kansas, where she’ll join the Jayhawks next season. “She’s going to be really, really good.”
The Class 4A all-tournament captain as a freshman, Fandel has an opportunity to make championship bookends on her high school basketball career.
Eighth-ranked Xavier (20-4) is paired with No. 1 Sioux City Heelan (21-2) in a 4A quarterfinal at 11:45 Tuesday morning at Wells Fargo Arena, Des Moines.
“We’ve gotten to the end, and I want to leave everything out there,” Fandel said. “As a senior, everything’s different.”
Speaking of different, let’s discuss for a moment Fandel’s choice of uniform numeral.
For some, ‘13’ is a cursed number. For Fandel, it’s a tribute.
“My mom’s birthday is May 13th,” she said. “And I wouldn’t be where I am without her support and drive to help me get better.”
Ashlee Fandel played six-on-six basketball at HLV, then transitioned to the modern five-player game at North Iowa Area Community College, then at Mount Mercy, where she met her husband, Matt, who also played.
An assistant-coaching career was next for Ashlee at Mount Mercy, then at Kirkwood Community College. Libby regularly tagged along.
As Libby grew, her skills and her long, lean build (she stands 6 feet) intersected to make her a force, both in basketball and volleyball.
She has won a state championship in both. She has been a first-team all-stater in both. She could have been a Division-I athlete in either.
When the All-Iowa Attack AAU club called, Fandel knew that basketball was her future.
“She has really taken a step since last spring,” said Paige, the associate head coach at KU and a Marion native. “You can see a big difference the last six months.”
Fandel stands No. 2 on the Metro all-time scoring chart, with 1,901 points. She is averaging 25.7 points per game this season, and also leads Xavier in rebounds (9.7 per game), assists (4.4) and steals (3.9).
“She’s willing to seek and find her teammates, especially early in the game,” said Lilly, who announced in November that this will be his final season.
“And she loves to defend. She gets agitated when I put her on somebody she doesn’t think is worthy.”
This probably wouldn’t have been the case in Lilly’s younger years, but these days, he said, “Timeouts have become very democratic. I’m not too proud to ask Libby what she thinks might work.”
Even as a freshman, Fandel carried a serious, mature persona on the court and in an interview setting.
“She has always been the most competitive person I’ve ever played with, or against,” teammate Taylor Rexroth said.
“Off the court, she’s cracking jokes a lot. But when she steps on the court, and the game’s going to start, she has her game face on.”
Fandel said, “When it’s time to play basketball, I’m serious, and I’ll hold everybody accountable. I just want to make everybody around me better.”
Kansas ultimately won the Fandel Sweepstakes; Creighton and TCU were other finalists.
Fandel said she did not receive an offer from Iowa or Iowa State.
“After I visited (KU), I loved it,” Fandel said. “I thought, ‘Oh, it’s going to be a tough decision to go anywhere else.’
“I’m happy with how it turned out.”
So is Paige.
“This class, we were able to get the kids we wanted at every position, and Libby was the primary wing that we really wanted,” Paige said.
“She has the opportunity to carve her own future here. Her mindset is that she’s going to play, and we’re going to ask her to contribute.”
Yeah, Fandel and the Saints are the 8-seed in Class 4A this week. But only a fool would count them out.
Or count her out.
“I know this,” Lilly said: “She’s not afraid of the big moment.”
Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com
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