Published: September 07, 2008 12:05 am         

Success story

Fowler receives full ride to Adrian College

“All students at Logansport High School have opportunities,” LHS girls basketball coach Jerry Hoover said. “Whether they take advantage of them or not, that’s their business.”

One of the students who did take advantage of opportunities is Kayla Fowler, a four-year varsity basketball player for Hoover at Logan who is now attending Adrian College in Adrian, Mich. Fowler is receiving a full ride via various scholarships and will play basketball at the NCAA Division III school.

If Fowler follows through, the payoff will be great. Hoover said her scholarships total over $130,000 for a four-year education at Adrian, where Fowler plans to pursue a career in physical therapy. She will have two years of graduate school remaining after graduation.

“[Adrian has] very good academics,” Hoover said.

Fowler had help along the way to receiving her scholarships, and she was always willing to listen to advice according to Hoover. One of the people who helped her of course was Hoover, the veteran coach who has a lot of contacts in the world of basketball.

“Obviously I have to thank coach Hoover,” Fowler said. “He helped me so much. He really helped me when I didn’t know where I was going to go. He really worked his magic.”

Another person who helped is Dave Workman, a financial advisor in Logansport who gave Fowler advice.

“All this school year I planned on going to a different school over in Ohio, and I got my financial aid back and it just wasn’t going to happen. It was too much money. I’d be in too much debt,” Fowler said. “And after that I had to start looking for another school, and I found Adrian. I loved it the first time I went and visited.”

“Dave Workman was beneficial in advising them in investigating the financial aspects of what was going on at Adrian,” Hoover added.

And a person who benefited Fowler in basketball to be able to play at the next level is none other than Rick “The Rocket” Mount, the former Purdue great who is arguably the greatest shooter of all time.

“Rick Mount taught her how to shoot,” Hoover said. “Her shot as a freshman was not very good, and now her shot … I’d put it up against anybody’s.”

Fowler, a 5-8 forward, played in the post for the Berries but will play on the wing for Adrian. During her senior season at Logan, in which she earned All-North Central Conference and All-Loganland honors, Fowler averaged 12.4 points and a team-high 7.4 rebounds.

Hoover thinks Fowler’s transition from the post to the perimeter will be a smooth one.

“I think she’ll do very well at that because she’s been trained to play that. Because of necessity, we just couldn’t play her there,” he said. “Last year she shot 53 percent from the field, and that gets people’s notice. So she’s played very, very well given the talent that God gave her.”

Fowler is the first of Hoover’s players at Logansport to play basketball collegiately in his six years as head coach. Fowler was a key part of the improving program which won six games her freshman year and seven her sophomore year before making the jump to 16 wins and a sectional championship her junior year and 17 wins her senior year. Hoover is expecting others from his program to follow Fowler in playing college basketball.

The person who probably deserves the most credit for Fowler’s success is Fowler herself. She was a three-sport athlete at Logansport, a standout basketball player and finished in the top 15 academically in her senior class.

“I’m very proud of her. She’s worked so hard. She really has,” said her mother, Betty. “Coach Hoover told her, ‘Don’t settle, don’t settle, a school will come along.’ She signed at the last minute. Everybody else had their colleges set and they knew where they were going, and he just kept telling her, ‘Don’t settle, the right one will come along.’ And she waited and it did.”

Beau Wicker can be contacted at (574) 732-5113 or via e-mail at beau.wicker@pharostribune.com