Miami Country Day’s Nelms is the 4A-2A Girls Basketball Player of the Year
In the eighth grade, Kayla Nelms had to learn quickly that a lot more was expected from players on the Miami Country Day girls basketball team.
It’s the reason the Spartans have nine state champions and are the most decorated program in Miami-Dade County history.
And if you ask Nelms, a senior forward who is headed to Baylor University, the demanding work she put in over the past five seasons was all worth it.
“It was a journey and a tough road since the eighth grade,” Nelms said. “Learning everything, the conditioning, working six days a week, school and the work on and off the court. After winning the first state title back then, and knowing I’d have to take on a bigger role. They knew my potential.”
Nelms took on the challenge and lived up to the expectations her coaches and teammates had in her, becoming the focal point of a two-year run that restored Miami Country Day to the status of state champion.
This year, in her final high school season, Nelms anchored the Spartans’ effort to repeat as Class 3A state champions and led them to their ninth overall in the past 11 years.
For her efforts, Nelms is the Miami Herald’s Class 4A-2A Girls Basketball Player of the Year for Miami-Dade County.
Although Nelms is excited about what comes next, she clearly will miss her time with Miami Country Day. Shortly following their 75-51 win over Sarasota Cardinal Mooney in the 3A final, she hugged the championship trophy tight and didn’t want to let it go.
“It feels good to win, but I’m also gonna miss it,” Nelms said after that game. “This is my fifth year. All of the emotions are coming out.”
Nelms averaged a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds while also averaging two blocks per game. Her efforts at both ends of the floor helped the Spartans overcome a slow start to the season and navigate through one of the toughest schedules in the country.
“Kayla stayed loyal and grinded and won three championships when she could have taken off and gone to some other program,” Miami Country
Day coach Ochiel Swaby said. “I do appreciate the seniors, and the fact that they maximized, grinded their butts off and have been committed and done things the right way.”