Community R-6 senior Kylie Brooks knows her game.

The all-conference and all-district selections proved that as did the season double-double average of 15.3 points and 12.8 rebounds. Brooks knows now her career isn’t over as she officially signed on Wednesday in the high school gym to play for NAIA’s Central Methodist University in Fayette — who has three 30-win seasons and two national tournament semifinal appearances in the past five years.

Brooks admitted she didn’t plan on playing at the next level for most of her Lady Trojans career, but her senior campaign convinced her she had what it takes. 

“When CMU reached out to me, I was really excited and took the opportunity,” Brooks said. “I love basketball. I went and visited them, saw their gym, talked to their coaches, and it was my dream and I’m following it.”

It took until around Christmas break before college aspirations developed for Brooks, she said, as her numbers didn’t lie. Along with her season double-doubles, Brooks averaged 63 percent on free throws, 31 percent on 3-pointers, 45 percent from the floor and 1.5 blocks. 

Head coach Bob Curtis, who said he has had about 11 Lady Trojans sign for college, believes Brooks can be even better. Curtis witnessed Brooks growing into Community’s biggest offensive threat this season and thinks she can bring more to Central Methodist.

“Some kids plateau as sophomores,” Curtis said. “They don’t get a whole lot better. Kylie’s not one of those kids. Kylie has improved every year she has been in our program. I’m excited to see what her ceiling is because I don’t think we’ve hit it yet.”

A special quality about Brooks, Curtis said, is that she can probably hit ceilings in a lot of rooms because she “just jumps different” and is someone who either blocks or changes shots on defense. He said that has helped her always be a threat on the glass, but she hasn’t been satisfied with just that. 

Curtis said Brooks in her senior campaign was the “go-to” player for the first time in her career, which he believes she handled well, and became stronger in other areas. Thanks to Brooks and the other Lady Trojans, Community finished 16-11 to record the program’s 12th straight winning season and defeated Calvary Lutheran (17-9) in districts 59-38. 

“Her ways to score got better,” Curtis said. “She hit some 3s, she was very good from 15 feet and she also played with her back to the basket very well this year.”

Curtis said Brooks even improved about 20 percent from the free-throw line, which is important for her especially since her interior game tends to earn her more foul shots. 

Brooks worked much in the offseason and in practice to address the previously weaker areas like free throws and that led to a jump in confidence. She said that stronger mental state feeds into better results on the floor.

“Even just from eighth grade, I think I definitely improved a lot and got more confident, which changes a lot,” Brooks said. “Not having any confidence is a struggle on the court, and I went through that a lot during my younger high school years — freshman and sophomore year I didn't have a lot of confidence.”

Brooks said her confidence went “through the roof” as an upperclassmen. She believed she could be counted on, and her teammates believed the same as it was easier this season to count the games where Brooks didn’t have a double-double. 

“I knew my game,” Brooks said. “I knew where I was hottest on the court, which was around the rim. I really took advantage of that. I would fall weakside board, just clean up and stick back. That’s really how I got all of my double-doubles — just staying around the board and doing what I do best.”

Curtis said it is definitely obvious what family Brooks belongs to since he remembers playing against her father, Keane, and recalls her brother, Kaden, from a few years back along with the other members in her family tree.

The jumping ability that family has puts them “head and shoulders above other people,” Curtis said, but that isn’t the entire story. Once again, Brooks has a strong mental component that makes her such a problem for others on the glass.

“She’s learned when a shot goes up to watch the flight and see if it’s going to be short or deep,” Curtis said. “She times her jump very well. Other girls are more about position, and she can sneak into a hole, jump up and grab a ball out of a space other kids can’t get to before it comes down to them.”

“My brother was dunking a lot in high school during his senior year,” Brooks said, with a grin. “My dad was tall, my uncles and everyone in my family on the Brooks side is tall and lanky and can jump.”

Brooks would like to reach greater heights during the next stage of her career and has a good idea of how she can do that. 

“I do want to extend my game more and not just stay around the rim — extend my shot and get out to the perimeter more,” Brooks said. “That’s definitely one way I can improve is just by being dominant from everywhere on the court and not just on the block.”