Junction City's Fisher signs with Arkansas Baptist
EL DORADO - In her final three years with Junction City, Nikayla Fisher was a major part of a trio of teams that surpassed the 20-win mark.
Now she is getting the opportunity to play at the collegiate level.
Fisher recently signed with Arkansas Baptist, and she is hopeful of getting the chance to play immediately.
"The coach thinks that I have the potential to start," Fisher said. "He likes the way I play defense. I'm one of his smaller guards, and I'm going to play point guard."
Fisher made the transition to point guard from shooting guard prior to her senior year, and the dividends were immediate.
She averaged 10.2 points per game along with 3.2 rebounds, 2.6 steals and two assists for the Lady Dragons.
"Just being able to set up my teammates and take control myself," Fisher said of her new role with the Lady Dragons. "I'm a driver, so just setting up my teammates and knowing what works best for everybody else and making everybody else around me great."
Fisher said her recruitment had its ups and downs.
"My recruiting was a little rocky," Fisher said. "I was originally supposed to sign with Central Baptist in Conway, but one day, coach (Henry) Harrell called me down to the gym and told me that Arkansas Baptist had called and wanted to me to visit. I visited the school and I really liked it, so I made my decision to go there."
Fisher also likes the fit of attending a two-year school.
"It was my original plan," Fisher said. "I wanted to go D-1, because I felt like I was D-1 material, and when I didn't get a D-1 offer, I knew JUCO was where I wanted to go."
After missing out on the state tournament in her sophomore and junior years, Fisher and the Lady Dragons qualified for the state tournament this spring.
With Junction City moving up
to 3A, Fisher said the team entered the season with a chip on its shoulder.
"Moving from 2A to 3A, we knew that we had a lot to prove, but we won conference. It went great," Fisher said.
"We had a pretty good run.
"We knew that we could make it to state. We fell short two years in a row, so when we made it, it was a great accomplishment. I wish we could've gone further, but it didn't work out that way."
Fisher, who said her primary focus this summer is working on her shooting, wants to major in kinesiology and join the coaching ranks after she graduates from college.
"I plan to coach after college," Fisher said. "I'd like to coach at the high school level and go up from there."