“She’s got good genes,” head coach of the women’s basketball team, Keith Boucher, said about freshman guard Jovan Kingwood. Kingwood was scouted at an Amateuer Athletic Union (AAU) tournament while playing for premier basketball in Fairfield, Connecticut, her sophomore year of high school. Coach Boucher noticed Kingwood among the rest because of her athletic ability.
Kingwood’s athletic ability runs deeper than just the length of a basketball court. Her father, Tyrone Kingwood, played basketball at Cleveland State, but his first love was baseball. He transferred to Imperial Valley in California where he played 17 games in three years and was drafted to the Montreal Expos in 1987.
Growing up, Jovan said she never really understood that her father was a professional athlete. “It’s pretty cool though, people come up to me here like, ‘Your dad played baseball and was drafted to the major leagues?’” Kingwood said.
Last summer, Kingwood’s father arranged for some major league workout lessons before she came to Keene State College taught by John Bagley, a former Celtic player who played alongside Larry Bird, and Wes Matthews Sr., who played for teams like the Chicago Bulls and the Los Angeles Lakers. The two were Tyrone Kingwood’s mentors in high school and became close friends of his over the years.
Brian Cantore / Photo Editor:
Freshman combo guard Jovan Kingwood drives to the basket in an eventual 40-56 loss to Southern Maine in the Spaulding Gym on Feb. 1.
That summer program helped put the finishing touches on Jovan’s skills, as she would endure the transition from high school to college ball. This meant a new school, a new team and a new coach.
Up until and throughout high school, Kingwood had her father as a basketball coach, though in high school he was only an assistant coach.
“I think she understands the relationship that a coach and player have. A coach is saying something to you because they want you to get better, they want to motivate you and use the skills that you have,” coach Boucher said.
Tyrone Kingwood said, “Jovan knew once we walked into that gym I was her coach, we rarely talked about basketball at home. Once we left the court I was her Dad and only her Dad.”
Kingwood averages about 13 minutes per game and has played in all 20 games this season.
Although she was the star of her high school team, she has learned to share the spotlight with her new teammates at KSC.
“She’s a really good teammate, and I think that gets overlooked a lot. She’s not selfish at all, she wants everyone to play and to do well, she wants the team to win just like everyone else,” senior teammate Brianna McCain said.
Besides her positive and motivating personality, Jovan has a number of qualities that separate her from the other freshmen on the women’s basketball team.
Her most unique quality is that she’s a lefty. Most players use their right hand to dribble the ball down the court and push players and the game to the left side. Kingwood has the ability to push the game the other direction.
“Lefty’s are the hardest people to guard”, sophomore teammate Laurie Allien said.
Even Kingwood is sometimes surprised when she is faced with an opponent who is a lefty. “A lot of players don’t see it coming, even when my coach tells me that another player is a lefty, ‘you have to guard her to the left,’ I’m like ‘how do I do that!’ because I’m so used to playing her one way it’s hard to play her the other,” Kingwood said.
McCain continued to explain another one of Kingwood’s affable qualities,
“Coach always says K-Y-R [know your role], and she really knows her role. When she goes in, she’s in there to be an offensive player and is in there to make something happen on offense. We need someone to go to the hoop and get rebounds and she’s crazy at rebounds. She gets them over girls who are 6’1.”
However, Jovan isn’t all basketball. Kingwood is a biology major with dreams of becoming a veterinarian.
Kingwood’s schedule is hectic but she has been able to maintain an incredible balance between sports, school work, an on campus job and her everyday social life.
“All her life, Jovan has been very determined and is capable of accomplishing anything she sets her mind to, she’s a hard worker and she’s humble,” her father said.
Her humble personality and positive outlook on life comes from years of wisdom, as once said to her father by his coach, then passed down to her:
“Keep your nose clean, continue to work hard and be positive, be a leader, do it with passion and do it with a lot of love, but most importantly be yourself, be humble and work hard, learn how to take care of your business and nature will take care of everything else.”
“When I came here [KSC], he told me to just be myself and I’ll fit in and the friends that I want will be there for me— and they have,” Kingwood said.
Kendall Pope can be contacted at kpope@keene-equinox.com
