By CHARLIE HUST
Webster County High School’s tradition of sending Lady Trojan basketball players on to the college level continued last Saturday as Darrian McNary signed a scholarship package with Brescia University in Owensboro.
The WCHS standout, who led the Lady Trojans in scoring last year, will be a welcomed addition to the Lady Bearcats squad that struggled to a 8-22 record last season and 5-12 in the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (KIAC) under first-year head coach Summer Quesenberry.
“I’m certainly looking forward to the challenge of playing in college and Coach Quesenberry stated that every day is a tryout (in practice). So I’m ready for the opportunity to earn playing time and doing my best against the competition everyday in practice,” McNary stated. “It’s always been a goal of mine to play in college and Brescia gave me a very good offer and I just wanted to go somewhere and get the chance to play.”
The WCHS honor student (3.4 GPA) was a four-year starter for the Lady Trojans including all-district honors in three of those seasons. Her athletic ability as well as her work ethic will lead to plenty of quality minutes according to returning Lady Trojan coach Parker McCalister, who coached McNary in her junior season.
“I spoke to Darrian a few weeks ago and she was interested in playing (in college), so I made a few calls,” noted McCalister, who is a Brescia graduate and played for the Bearcats men’s team during his college career. “This seems to be a great fit and I’m very proud of her and honored to have had a chance to coach her. Brescia is getting a fantastic player and a great person and student.
McCalister set up a tryout for the former WCHS standout which was “very successful” according to McNary.
“I went over and played against some of the current Lady Bearcats and I felt like I really held my own,” she added. “I guess it went really good in Coach Quesenberry’s opinion because she just came up to me afterwards and said ‘I want you on my team’. I think I can earn quality minutes as a freshman, that’s my goal. I know it will take lots of work and it will be quite different at the college level. But I look forward to chance to play and push myself to get even better. I think my best basketball is still ahead of me.”
McNary also stated she was very proud of what she and her teammates accomplished at WCHS and hopes that younger Lady Trojans see what she accomplished and follow in her footsteps.
“I know younger kids look up to us, those of us who play on the Lady Trojan squad and I took that very seriously during my career here. Like many Lady Trojans before me that I watched succeed, I hope they see that with hard work and dedication on the basketball court and in the classroom, that maybe one day they will be signing a college scholarship,” McNary concluded.
The talented McNary will also being running track for Brescia and plans on pursuing a degree in Biology.