KANSAS CITY, MO — The Big XII Women's Basketball tournament is set to make its debut at the T-Mobile Center and young KC basketball players are opening up about the momentum women's basketball is having.
Park Hill South Girls Varsity Basketball weighed in on the topic. Many of their players will be attending the upcoming tournament after wrapping up their season on Monday when they fell short to Staley during the Class 6 District 8 Tournament.
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"I couldn't be more proud of our girls, it's been the best season by far and our culture on and off the court speaks for itself and we were just really proud of how we showed what Park Hill South is," said Addison Bjorn, sophomore at Park Hill South.
Bjorn is considered one of the top national prospects for the class of 2026 and recently scored her 1000th career point. The high schooler was in Iowa when Caitlin Clark broke the NCAA scoring record. Bjorn is currently being recruited by top college basketball programs, she says players like Clark are helping break barriers and bringing additional attention to the game.
"She has a generational talent, she's very like unique and she can do about everything and she's brought a lot of people towards women's basketball," said Bjorn.
Park Hill South head coach, Joshua Dorr has noticed attendance is up across the board. He believes his players are also fueling the growing demand due to their talent and outreach.
Tannah Jones is a junior at Park Hill South and coaches youth basketball with KC Premiere Basketball. As a native Kansas Citian, Jones believes the tournamnet and KC's ongoing support for women's sports could help bring a WNBA team to the midwest.
"I would absolutely love to have a WNBA team in Kansas City, I would definitely support them and it would be a big, it'd be a really big thing for girls especially that I coach," said Jones.
While some players are ready for another season with Park Hill others like Avery Simmons are getting ready for the next step. Simmons will be playing with Loyola University Maryland in Baltimore.
"I've spent four years at South and it's just awesome to see how much people came to the girls games, especially my junior and senior year we have had a winning program these last two years and we wanted more people in the stands and that's what we saw," said Simmons, "we put a lot of hard work and a lot of grit."
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