Friends Wetta, Beers square off for 1st time
Valor Christian teammates now playing at CU, Oregon State
On Christmas morning, 11- year- old Emersyn Caldwell opened a gift that she will never forget.
It included a custom Tshirt that reads “Heart Divided” on the front, with logos for the University of Colorado and Oregon State University. On the back is the number 15 and the last names of women’s basketball stars Kindyll Wetta from CU and Raegan Beers of OSU.
Also included was personalized videos from Beers and Wetta, letting Emersyn know she’d be going to Corvallis, Ore., to watch her two favorite players square off.
Emersyn and her mother, Jessika Caldwell, may not know who to root for, but their hearts will be full when they get to Gill Coliseum on Sunday to watch CU and Oregon State square off.
“I just can’t wait to watch them on the court together,” said Jessika, the head girls basketball coach at Valor Christian High School. “I’m excited about it.”
Wetta, a sophomore point guard at CU, and Beers, a freshman forward at OSU, are friends, two of the best players in Valor Christian’s history and, on Sunday, competitors.
“I think it’s super neat that we played together in high school and were very successful and now we’re both at Division I, Pac- 12 schools and we’ll get to go up and play against each other,” Wetta said. “Of course you want to get the win, but just being out there and playing with her I think will be more than anything.”
ESPN’S Hoopgurlz rated Wetta as the top high school player in the state for the class of 2021, while Beers was rated as the No. 2 player in the class of 2022 — behind Grandview’s Lauren Betts, the top player in the country who landed at Stanford.
For decades, Colorado has produced elite girls basketball talent, including Jessika ( Stratton) Caldwell, who graduated from Coronado High School in 2000 before starring at Baylor.
It’s not often that former teammates will face each other, however, especially in an elite conference.
“I’m super excited,” Beers said. “I haven’t obviously played against her at all. I got to experience playing with her in high school and I had so much fun doing that. So playing against her will definitely be different. It’ll be a little weird, but I’m excited to see her and excited to see how her game has grown over the past couple years.”
In her two seasons with the Buffs, Wetta has gained a reputation for being a pesky defender and deft passer. She scores 5.9 points per game, while ranking top 15 in the Pac- 12 in assists ( 3.4 per game) and steals ( 1.5 per game).
“In the most respectful way possible, it is so annoying to play against her, but it is so fun to watch her play,” said Beers, who spent many days in practice against Wetta. “I mean, she is just all over the place. She is so much up in your face up, up in your grill trying to get that ball. That’s why she was highly recruited.”
The 6- foot- 4 Beers is among Pac- 12 leaders in scoring ( 13.4 points per game) and rebounds ( 8.2 rebounds) and is a favorite for conference freshman of the year honors. Only two players
in the conference have more double- doubles than Beers’ 10.
“I’ve seen all of it and my family definitely watches her a lot and she’s kicking butt, just like we know that she can,” Wetta said. “We expect absolutely nothing less and I’m super happy for her. Raegan is a beast on the floor and the kindest person off the floor. There’s nobody that’s more deserving.”
As good as they’ve been, Wetta and Beers only got to share one full season together. In 2018- 19, Wetta, then a sophomore, was limited to seven games before a season- ending knee injury. In Wetta’s senior year, 202021, she led Valor to the state title, but Beers missed the season with a knee injury.
In their lone full season together, in 2019- 20, they led Valor to a 25- 2 record and a
trip to the state semifinals.
“When you couple Kindyll’s competitive leadership with Raegan’s joyful leadership, it just really brought a sense of fullness to our team,” said Caldwell, in her ninth season as Valor’s head coach. “You can kind of ebb and flow between the two of them and I think they really played off of each other in that and learned from one another in strengths and weaknesses.”
Together, they were a dynamic duo.
“I remember that when I was going to pass the ball, she was always there,” Wetta said. “She’s a very strong player, very classy and fun to play with. Great teammate.”
Beers loved being on defense and watching Wetta steal the ball from an opponent and race up court for a layup.
“I’d just kind of stand back there and just wait for her to go make the layup; just watch it happen because I knew it was going in,” Beers said with a laugh. “I probably should have been running back but I didn’t. She gave me some breathers when I needed them.”
Beers and Wetta won’t go easy on each other Sunday. CU is hoping to keep momentum going after a big win at Oregon on Friday, while Oregon State is aiming to snap a streak of three consecutive nail- biter losses.
Regardless of the outcome, it will be a memorable experience for Beers, Wetta and the Caldwells.
“You hope when you coach them that they’re not their best selves; that their best selves are still yet to come,” Caldwell said. “That you just get to be a part of that journey, just a small portion of their continued growth. To see them continue to get better and to continue to find their footing and make an impact, much like they did here but on a bigger scale, it’s just sweet to kind of be able to turn on the TV and be like, ‘ Oh my gosh, there they are!’
“I’m just excited to be one of the fans ( at Gill Coliseum) to experience that firsthand and, in the same way, see two women that I just adore and love compete and give their best for their teams and their craft.”