COMMUNITY: Panther era comes to a close

Editor's note: Nicole Dighton of Cedar Rapids is the mother of two active children. Her daughter Kennedy, 14, played for the last Cedar Rapids Panthers team that her husband, Rob, helped coach. Kennedy and her son Carson, 8, play other sports as well, and Nicole volunteers with the Cedar Hills Booster Club.

By Nicole Dighton, community contributor

It started with the graduating class of 1990 and ends with the graduating class of 2017.

The current eighth grade girls Cedar Rapids Panthers AAU basketball team is the last in a long list of teams that has dominated the state for nearly 30 years.

The program, started by Mike Whited in 1984, began with one 12U team. The team formed at the time when girls' basketball in Iowa was shifting from the 6-player format to 5-on-5 play. Whited, then coaching in the parish league, decided to pull some girls together to form a 5-on-5 team. The team name and its dominant color - royal blue - came as a result of the girls being thrown together in a room without any parents or coaches to influence their decision.

Whited's first Cedar Rapids Panthers team was composed of Leslie Pink, Renee Baldridge, Marsha Frese, Tonya Slezak, Jenny Jacobsen, Julie Brown, Tara Troendle, Shelley Sheetz, Kate Galligan, Natalie Serbousek, Barb Ockenfels and Christy Hebert, whose dad, Mike, helped coach that first group.

This first team ended up claiming the state AAU title.

The program eventually evolved to include one team of girls for each grade, third through eighth, and traveled across the country playing teams from other great programs.

In 1989, five years after Whited started the program, all 12 members of his original team were playing varsity basketball for their respective high school. A year later, in 1990, Cedar Rapids Washington's 11-player varsity roster consisted of all Cedar Rapids Panthers, including two freshmen.

The Cedar Rapids Panthers also produced the No. 1 high school recruit in the nation in 2002, Ann Strother, who was the first Panther to play for powerhouse Connecticut.

Since that time, former Cedar Rapids Panther Kiah Stokes has joined the Huskies basketball team. In addition to Strother and Stokes, the Cedar Rapids Panthers were the start for many other great collegiate basketball players - like Kelly Rushford (San Diego State, 1998-2002), Ryanne Ridge (Colorado, 2006-2008), Katelin Oney and K.K. Armstrong (UNI, 2007-2011), Jamie Printy (Iowa, 2009-2013), Jade Rogers (Iowa, 2010-present) and Morgan Paige (Wisconsin, 2010 - present).

Sheetz, a Cedar Rapids Kennedy standout, played college basketball at Colorado and was the first Panther to play professionally in the ABL (American Basketball League), playing for the Colorado Xplosion and the Portland Power in 1996-1999.

Others, however, would soon follow. Stacy Frese, Lindsey Meder, Anne O'Neil and Strother round out former Panthers who played professionally, all in the WNBA.

Not only did the Panthers have some great basketball players, but also excellent track stars, softball players and volleyball players.

Sue Buckheister, class of 1999, and Jenny Buelow, class of 2005, ran track at Luther and Coe, respectively. Allie Hutcheson, class of 2012, plays volleyball at Northern Colorado and Christy Hebert, class of 1993, Erin Doud, class of 1997, and Kristin Johnson, class of 1999, all went on to play college softball at Iowa.

Many of the Panther players have been inducted into their high school's Hall of Fame.

Kennedy inducted Tammy Brauer, Jill Hlavacek, Sarah Russell, Vanessa Schrock and Anna Swanson, among others. Xavier recently inducted Kristin Jennings into its Hall of Fame.

The program has developed of at least 480 skilled players, nearly all of whom played or will play high school varsity basketball.

To date, the Cedar Rapids Panthers have won 83-plus state championships and have had 72 players named state MVP and 179 players named to the all-tournament team.

In all, more than 145 Panthers have thrived in collegiate basketball.

In the early years and up through 2010, the Iowa AAU hosted two state tournaments each year, one based on age and one based on grade.

The Cedar Rapids Panthers graduating class of 2012, which included Benton Community senior Madison Weekly, won eight state titles.

In the fall of 2007, after the graduating class of 2017 had formed its third-grade team, Whited stepped back from his lead role with the organization to pursue other interests. Rob Dighton and others came forward to finish coaching this last group through their AAU years, which concluded this past February with their eighth grade season.

This last class of Cedar Rapids Panthers ended up winning three state championships and earning five runner-up titles.

As the team members head to high school next fall - Kennedy Dighton and Avery Guy to Jefferson; Ashley Hamilton, Kendal Meier and Jordan Vaske to Kennedy; Jessi Puk and Brittany and Melanie Hoeger to Washington; and Ellie Anderson and Lexi Frese to Linn-Mar - we will see what the future holds.

Based on past success, their futures look bright on the court as a result of the foundation and skills learned thanks to the Cedar Rapids Panthers program.