Name: KIARA KENNEDY
Grad Year: 2017
Pos: Infield/Utility
High School: Desert Vista (Phoenix, Ariz.)
Club: Arizona Storm Mizuno Gold
Stats: Last summer hit .660 with four home runs for her 16U team; as a sophomore hit .333 with 29 hits and 20 RBI in 29 games played
Height: 5-foot-7
College: Purdue

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FloSoftball.com: You e-mailed FloSoftball Sunday night to say, “I just hung up the phone with Coach Kim Schuette of Purdue University and I verbally accepted her scholarship offer! Words can’t express how excited I am!” Walk us through that conversation and how it happened!
Kiara Kennedy: My coach informed me that Purdue was ready to make me an offer so I called them after this past weekend’s showcase. Coach Schuette answered and my heart dropped! She asked me if Purdue was still one of my top choices and I said yes. She then said, “What’s it going to take to get you to become a Boilermaker? We want you and I’d like to offer you a scholarship.”

FS.com: Describe your emotions around telling them, were you nervous, excited, something else?
KK: I was nervous and excited at the same time and when I got the offer I was a little speechless.

FS.com: How did Purdue first come into the picture for you?
KK: They saw me at TCS Fireworks last year and then they came to a couple more showcases in California.

FS.com: When did you visit the campus and what was it about the school you liked?
KK: I visited the campus in April and what I liked about the school is that the people were very welcoming and that the school is much focused on education and keeping their athletes on track. The coaches were really genuine. Coach Schuette is very funny and my impression was that she’s a “players’ coach.”

FS.com: What did the Boilermaker coaches say they liked most about you and your game?  
KK: The coaches like my versatility. They like how I can play every position on the field besides pitcher and catcher. They also like my arm strength and hitting power. Another thing that they got a kick out of was the nickname my Dad put on my YouTube highlights which is “Queen of Swat.”

FS.com: Was softball your first love or were/are you a multi-sport athlete growing up and today?
KK: I was a multi-sport athlete but when I was first introduced to softball I just knew it was something that I wanted to continue playing for a long time.

FS.com: Was there a moment in your career when you thought, “Wow, I’m actually pretty good and might be able to play in college!”?
KK: Yes, this occurred when I realized that I was capable of playing more than one position on the field.

FCS.com: What’s been a highlight or two of your athletic career so far?
KK: Most definitely being selected as a Hot 100 player for my class and placing 3^rd in 16U Fireworks last year. This past season of high school ball was big too. We finished in the final four of the state playoffs with a team that is only losing one starter. And, of course, my biggest is being verbally committed to Purdue!

 

Quick Hitters

 

Fill in the blank… The best part of softball is: ________________
… being around teammates who want to be out there playing the game that they love with you and enjoying it.

Lasting memory from this high school season will be:
Getting 4^th in the playoffs and getting the farthest in Desert Vista history.

Favorite motto or philosophy of life:
“My attitude is that if you push me towards a weakness, I will turn that weakness into a strength.”—Michael Jordan

If you could spend the weekend with anyone doing anything anywhere in the world, what would you?
Go to the Bahamas with my family.

What’s something unusual or different about you that few know?
I want to be a head coach for the NFL!

What’s the one thing/object, besides your phone, that you can’t live without?
Music.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?
Relax and have fun.

What’s your “guilty pleasure,” something you hate to admit you love?
I love Mexican food.

If you could have a super power, what would you want it to be?
Invisibility.

Last song/CD you bought:
Drake’s Know Yourself.

If you could have dinner with anyone dead or alive, who would it be?
August Alsina.

What did you want to be when you were little?
A free safety in football.

Nickname(s):
Keke, Keeks, Chocolate Thunder, Barry as in Barry Bonds.

Something on your “must do” list:
Win the World Series, play in the Olympics, go to Jamaica.

What is the best thing about Phoenix in your opinion?
That I can swim all year round.