By MAYAN PAZ
Tiger Media Network
Katie DeGarmo (Wagner) has been a star for the FHSU women’s basketball team since the moment she arrived in Hays in the fall of 2020. The graduate student from Maize was already a familiar name in the FHSU history books before the season started; however, after the team’s win against Tabor College on November 26, DeGarmo is now officially registered as one of the best players in program history, achieving 1,000 career points and rebounds. DeGarmo is just the second player in FHSU history to achieve such a milestone.
Playing at Maize South High School, DeGarmo was considered one of the best players in the state and a well-known name around eastern Kansas. Scoring 1,000 career points in high school had stationed her on the top recruiting lists in Kansas, and she was heavily recruited by D1 and D2 schools alike.
Despite the D1 offers, DeGarmo chose to play for the Tigers. FHSU Head Coach Talia Kahrs was an assistant coach at the time and was involved in recruiting DeGarmo. Kahrs said although Fort Hays doesn’t have the D1 mark to its name, there are still a lot of advantages for a player like DeGarmo to play at Fort Hays.
“Katie is one of those players that could have gone D1 if she wanted to, so our goal was to try to convince her coming to D2 is not as bad as it seems,” Kahrs said. “Instead of going to a D1 that maybe isn’t going to win as many games, make the national Tournament, or win a conference title, we [said she] can do all those things here, and it’s a really good level of basketball. She just had a really unique thought process, and she wanted to go to a place where she could play right away.”
For DeGarmo, the potential to become part of a winning team that could contend for the national title was the main appeal of FHSU. As Kahrs identified, DeGarmo cared more about winning than having the image of a D1 school to her name. Not only that, but the Tigers have given her the opportunity to be an important player for the team right from the start of her college career, which helped pave the way to her current success.
“The winning culture is definitely why I wanted to come here,” DeGarmo said. “I wanted to go somewhere where I could play for championships, and I think I found that here—and being able to do what it takes for my team to win. I’ve always been about that in high school and college, and so whether it’s scoring, passing, or getting rebounds, I’m going to do what it takes to help the team.”
Winning has indeed been part of the culture of FHSU women’s basketball, especially since DeGarmo has been on the team. The Tigers have averaged nearly 25 wins a season (including the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season), won two MIAA regular season championships, one MIAA tournament championship and have been to the NCAA Tournament three times.
Individually, it takes time to reach such high numbers in scoring and rebounding, and DeGarmo improved, played more minutes and scored more points in every single season. Her freshman year was the only one in which she didn’t score in double figures, averaging 9.2 points per game while playing 22.3 minutes. Last season was her best yet, as she scored 17.2 points per game and pulled down 8.7 rebounds per game. Those impressive numbers were why she was awarded the MIAA Player of the Year, only adding to her decorated list of awards.
According to Kahrs, those accolades result from DeGarmo’s relentless hard work and dedication.
“When you go as hard as she does every day in practice, you’re going to continue to grow and get better. When she came in as a freshman, she was a really good freshman player, so she got to come in and play quite a bit of minutes that a freshman doesn’t usually get to play,” Kahrs said. “The cool thing about Katie is that she’s so humble that it never got to her head. So as a fifth-year senior, she’s humble and she’s willing to go hard. And when your hardest worker is probably one of your best players, it’s it’s easy for me to coach.”
While the season is young, and individual achievements often take a backseat to team success, for DeGarmo, being recognized in the history books with 1,000 points and rebounds is worth appreciating.
“It’s cool. I think it’s a testament to all of the time that I’ve put in in the last five years,” DeGarmo said. “It’s just really cool to get to experience that and get to really sit in that milestone and realize how special it is.”
FHSU is 7-0 to start the season, and with MIAA play beginning this week, DeGarmo is confident there are still great things ahead for the Tigers.
“We’re really good, we can also get a lot better. I have really high expectations for this team and this season,” she said.
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