Naya Haymon, Kirkwood women’s basketball just 1 win away from national tournament

CEDAR RAPIDS — At 5 feet tall, according more to the team program than a measuring tape, Naya Haymon chose Homewood Flossmoor High School in south Chicago for the same reason she ended up choosing Kirkwood four years later.

“I saw the way they played defense and I’m a defensive player,” Haymon said. “I thought that the school and coach would make me a better person.”

Haymon used what she learned playing defensive-oriented basketball over the last six years to help Kirkwood defeat NIACC, 72-34, in the ICCAC Region XI semifinals Saturday afternoon at Johnson Hall.

Voted team MVP after her senior season, Haymon was determined to find a college program that could utilize her talents the way Flossmoor had.

“I know I didn’t bring a lot in high school (offensively), but I knew coaches would give me a look defensively,” Haymon said. “I was just highlighting that I can bring energy, distribute the ball and get stops in tough situations.”

Haymon did just that in 15 minutes running the offense for the Eagles in the semifinals, scoring six points on 2-of-3 shooting with three assists.

“I’ve always been a shorty so I have to be a dog and bring my intensity,” Haymon said. “I’m trying to bring that hunger and that fight.”

To stay hungry and focused, Haymon avoids eating before games; she also says a prayer during the national anthem — one that she would recite with her teammates in high school — to ease her mind before tipoff.

Now just weeks away from earning her forensic sciences degree from Kirkwood, Haymon and her Eagle teammates are just one win away from a berth in the NJCAA national tournament, this year taking place in Port Huron, Mich., on March 15-19.

“We know what we have to do to prepare and what we are trying to achieve,” Haymon said.

First No. 1 Kirkwood needs to defeat No. 2 Iowa Western Sunday at Johnson Hall. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.

Regardless of the results during the rest of Haymon’s run with the Eagles, the sophomore hopes to continue her college career both athletically and academically and believes she will leave Kirkwood stronger than she arrived.

“Being here has taught me a lot, especially being with this team and this program,” Haymon said. “It’s literally thanks to my coach and my teammates for making me a better person.”

Comments: justin.webster@thegazette.com