BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Telegraph Staff Writer
Keystone Heights High School senior basketball player Kiley Channell, who plays guard, was named the Northeast Florida Builders Association Clay County’s Student-Athlete of the Month for December.
John Sgromolo, Clay County’s coordinator of district athletics, presented Channell with a certificate, an Under Armour quarter-zip pullover (courtesy of BSN Sports) and two tickets to a Jacksonville Icemen home game (courtesy of Jacksonville Icemen).
Channell, who also plays softball and signed a letter of intent to play that sport FAU, has a 4.311 grade-point average and more than 147 community service hours.
“Clay County is so proud of you,” Sgromolo said. “Keystone is so proud of you. Not only are you unbelievably awesome in the classroom and on the softball field and the basketball court, you’re also involved in the community.”
Channell (through Dec. 15) leads the KHHS basketball team in scoring at 13.9 points per game and in assists with 3.4 per game. She was four points shy of 1,000 career points prior to the Indians’ Dec. 19 game against Palatka.
When Sgromolo, as part of a promotional video for the Clay School District, asked Channell how she got involved playing basketball, she said she was always playing sports with her brother and his friends. She also got involved with the Keystone Youth Basketball Assocaition when she was in second grade.
Channell played on the KHHS varsity team as an eighth-grader and earned first-team All-Clay County honors her freshman and junior seasons. She was a second-team pick her sophomore year.
Sgromolo pointed out that Channell was a New4Jax Super Six player as well as the Florida Athletic Coaches Association Class 4A Player of the Year for District 6 last year. Yet it’s softball that she’ll continue playing after graduation. Sgromolo asked Channell about making the decision between playing basketball or softball at the collegiate level.
“When I was younger, I always wanted to play college softball,” said Channell, a shortstop/second baseman. “I always had that in the back of my mind.”
She started on the KHHS varsity softball team as an eighth-grader and was a first-team All-Clay County pick that year.
“We’ve never had that happen in Clay County,” Sgromolo said of an eighth-grader earning such honors.
Channell went on to earn second-team All-Clay County softball honors as a freshman, sophomore and junior.
When Sgromolo asked her why she chose to continue her softball career at FAU, Channell said, “The coaches just really stood out to me compared to all the other coaches. The head coach is just like an older version of me. Even her childhood stories were like how I grew up. It really made me want to visit them more often.”
Sgromolo asked Channell what her senior softball season would mean to her, especially coming off a year in which the Indians played for a region championship.
“Obviously, it’s a big year for me,” Channell said. “I want to go out with a bang.”
Clay’s Student-Athlete of the Month awards recognize the complete student-athlete, so academics are an important part of the award as well. Sgromolo told Channell her 4.311 GPA was “unbelievable,” prompting him to ask her who some of her favorite teachers were.
“I really love math,” Channell said. “I had (Cindy) Loose for three years. I don’t have math this year because I finished all my math credits, but she’s been like one of the best teachers I’ve ever had.”
This year, Channell takes American Government as a dual-enrollment student at Santa Fe College, while taking Economics and Journalism at KHHS. She intends to study Business Financial at FAU.
“I’m looking into becoming a sales rep, maybe for medical, but also, eventually, I want to own my own business, like an event-planning business,” Channell said.
Sgromolo talked with Channell about her involvement in the community, which includes her participation with the Senior Girls Club at KHHS and with the Keystone Youth Basketball Association. Channell said she and other varsity girls and boys players help coach and referee in YBA, which consists of grades 1-8 in three divisions.
“It’s just for the kids to learn basically the techniques and mechanics of basketball to get better for when they come up to play for the high school,” Channell said.
Sgromolo said Channell was humble, pointing out that he had just learned that she was crowned this year’s homecoming queen.
“I was really excited to win,” Channell said. “I didn’t really know they called my name until I heard my last name. I was like, ‘Oh!’ My partner next to me was like, ‘Hey, you won.’”
Sgromolo said, “Keystone could not have selected a better representative as their homecoming queen.”
