STARKVILLE — Kayla Nevitt doesn’t want to get lost in the shuffle.
A year ago, Nevitt looked around the Mississippi State women’s basketball team’s locker room and saw plenty of competition for minutes. Whether it was seniors Kendra Grant or Savannah Carter or sophomore Dominique Dillingham or freshmen Victoria Vivians and Blair Schaefer, Nevitt realized playing time wasn’t going to be given to her and that she had to improve if she wanted to make her mark.
Nevitt carried that mind-set into the offseason following MSU’s record-setting 2014-15 season. The momentum and excitement surrounding the 27-win season and trip to the second round of the NCAA tournament generated another nationally ranked recruiting class that bolstered MSU’s depth at every position and solidified its status as a program on the rise.
Nevitt intends to be an active participant in the Bulldogs’ next step this season.
“Last year, just watching Tori (Vivians), Kendra Grant, and Savannah Carter it made me realize what I needed to prep myself for,” Nevitt said. “They were great examples. They gave me a lot of confidence just watching them. It made me excited and made me want to work harder because I saw what they could do and I pictured myself doing the same thing.”
Nevitt attacked her offseason workouts to improve her strength and her shooting after appearing in only 18 games (the fewest on the team) and averaging 2.9 points per game and shooting 35.3 percent from the field. But Nevitt knows her scoring and her minutes per game (7.4 last season) could increase with the departure of Grant and Carter. Vivians, the team’s leading scorer (14.9 ppg.), returns, as do Dillingham and Schaefer, who also have improved, but Nevitt is confident she can make a bigger impact now that she better understands the rigors of the Southeastern Conference. She hopes she will be able to provide the scoring touch she showed at Andy Dekaney High School (Texas), where she averaged 11.8 points, 2.3 assists, 3.8 rebounds, and 3.1 steals for her career. Her accomplishments earned her a three-star rating from ESPN and four stars from Premier Girls Basketball Report.
Nevitt said she made sure she did more this offseason than she did prior to her freshman season at MSU. She said she tried to be in the gym every chance she had to hone her shooting stroke. She said coaches and teammates have noticed the difference in her strength and in her shooting. She also credited assistant coach Dionnah Jackson for helping her with her shot to give her an even quicker release.
“I just worked hard because I watched a lot last year and now I want to experience it,” said Nevitt, who remained at MSU for both summer sessions and then stayed busy and shot at Andy Dekaney High when she went home.
MSU junior forward Breanna Richardson has noticed the work Nevitt put in in the offseason. She feels the 5-foot-10 Nevitt could become an even bigger contributor.
“Kayla is actually doing really, really good,” Richardson said. “She has gotten stronger in the weight room, but her confidence on the court is a lot better. She is knocking down a lot more open shots. Sometimes people might not have seen her as a threat, but she is a true threat now.
“She is doing really, really good. She just has to keep it up.”
Richardson, who is learning how to play the small forward, or three, in addition to her duties at power forward, or the four position, said Nevitt could be a player who provides valuable relief for Vivians or Dillingham. She feels Nevitt’s shooting stroke is good enough that the Bulldogs won’t see a decrease in the production from shooting guard if she is in the game.
MSU coach Vic Schaefer said the team needs Nevitt to play a bigger role this season.
“I need her to factor into the mix,” Schaefer said. “She has a really good mid-range jump shot. She elevates and has that high release. I need Kayla to help us. I need her to be able to give us some really good minutes at the two.
“She is athletic, long, quick, can guard, defend. She knows the importance of guarding and defending, and she is a great teammate. I need her to be in the mix. Everything I have seen, she is going to get that opportunity.”
Schaefer said confidence will be a key ingredient for Nevitt because he felt she “stumbled” a little bit in that area last season. But he said confidence comes from a player’s skill set, and he has a lot of confidence in what Nevitt brings to the court.
Nevitt believes the work she did in the offseason has helped her return with a stronger mind-set. She said she is excited to help captain Morgan William as a more vocal player and someone who has the confidence to put her “two cents in” and help her teammates.
“I feel like my mid-range game can help the team a lot,” Nevitt said. “I also think my ability to stretch on defense (can be an asset). I consider myself a big defensive threat. I have trouble in practice getting in help and stuff, and I am trying to get back into that because coach Schaefer is hard about it, but I have been doing better, and I think I can help on defense, too.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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