Special Events

Cretes Kastanek commits to North Carolina State
By Marjie Ducey / Omaha World-Herald
Wednesday, Sep 12, 2007

Marissa Kastanek has wanted to play basketball on the East Coast since she was in junior high and heard about UConn greats Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi.

She especially liked the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Last weekend, the Crete junior made her dream come true when she committed to North Carolina State of the ACC.

Coach Kay Yow signed the All-Nebraska player to the lone guard spot she had available for the class of 2009.

It means something when its a big school, its in the ACC and there is only one and they offered it to me, Kastanek said. I feel pretty excited about that.

Yow offered Kastanek the scholarship last April when she made a trip to North Carolina for a tournament with the Cornhusker Shooting Stars, the select team she has been playing with since the sixth grade. She visited the Raleigh school again in August for a camp.

Kastanek, who has been overwhelmed with letters from schools, also had received offers from Kansas State, Minnesota, Michigan State, Creighton, Drake, Nebraska and Iowa.

Dan Lesoing, her coach at the Shooting Stars, said its Kastaneks work ethic that has made her stand out. She works on her skills with him or on her own at least three hours a day, six days a week.

She has the passion, he said. Shes a decent athlete, but shes confident, and she works hard.

Kastanek said she got that work ethic from her mom, Lisa, who always told her she could accomplish whatever she wanted if she worked for it. Thats what kept her dream alive.

There was always that little thing in back of my head, if I just keep working hard and I keep pushing forward, I knew my work ethic was going to push me through, she said.

She said she wont let up even though she has made her college decision. She also has some goals for Crete, which lost in the Class B title game to Alliance last March.

To win a state championship, she said. Thats what we are kind of hungry for. ,

Crete star commits to N.C. State
BY RON POWELL / Lincoln Journal Star
Tuesday, Sep 11, 2007 - 12:36:05 am CDT

Marissa Kastanek’s long-time basketball dreams will come true, but it‘s going to be a while before she actually starts living it.

The Crete girls’ all-state junior guard orally committed over the weekend to play her college basketball at North Carolina State. Kastanek still has to wait more than a year to sign her national letter of intent (November 2008) and she won’t be on the Wolfpack team until fall 2009.

That seems like a long time off, but Kastanek was going through her version of rush week in making the decision. North Carolina State gave her a deadline of Sept. 14 to commit to the only scholarship it currently has for the high school class of 2009. That was fine with Kastanek. The timing was right , anyway.

“When I started playing as a little girl, my goal was to play in the ACC and on the East Coast where basketball is big,” Kastanek said. “It’s better to get (the recruiting process) done now.

The longer you wait, the more confusing it gets and the pressure mounts. Now I can just focus on basketball and helping my team win instead of worrying about impressing some college coach.’’

The 5-foot-9 Kastanek had a dozen Division I scholarship offers, a list topped by Nebraska, Kansas State, Michigan State and Minnesota. She visited the North Carolina State campus last April while playing a tournament in the area for the Cornhusker Shooting Stars. Kastanek also attended the Wolfpack’s elite camp in early August.

Kastanek, who can play both point and shooting guard, was a second-team Super-Stater last season as a sophomore, leading Crete to a 25-1 record and a Class B runner-up finish at the state tournament. She averaged 18.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, five steals and 4.5 assists per game.

Kastanek becomes the first Division I college basketball commitment from the state’s strong 2009 class, which could produce as many as six Division I women’s basketball recruits.

Kastanek is also a standout runner in track. She won the Class B, 800-meter run gold medal at the state meet in May.





Cornhusker Shooting Stars are proud to be sponsored by Michael T. White and their events.

www.michaeltwhite.com

Overtons Benson commits to Evansville
By Marjie Ducey / Omaha World-Herald
Friday, Sep 28, 2007

Basketball player Eva Benson has become the first girl from Overton High School to accept a Division I scholarship after
committing this week to Evansville University. Its a pretty exciting deal, coach Glen Snodgrass said.

The 6-foot post player aver­aged 19 points and 10 rebounds
last season. But she said she has her summer team to thank for
getting her noticed by the Evans­ville coaches. In Indiana, theyve probably never heard of Overton until they saw me play in the summer, Benson said.

Benson has played for the Cornhusker Shooting Stars of Lincoln,
coached by Dan Lesoing, for the past two years. They travel
extensively in the summer. Shell join Nelighs Amy Gallagher,
also a product of the Shooting Stars, at Evansville.

The University of Nebraska at Kearney and Fort Hays State also
were possibilities, but Benson said she loved the Evansville
coaches and players and the chance to play in Division I. I really like that even though its a smaller school, they play
big names like Kentucky and schools like that, she said. I
thought that was pretty cool. She said that coaches like her
defensive intensity. Snodgrass said thats been a plus for Over­
ton, too. She did a lot for us, he said. She was a great rebounder, our leading scorer the last two years. Shes one of our real good defend­ ers as well.

Benson also plays volleyball and runs track. But she said it
was an easy choice to pick bas­ketball for college. I just really like it better, she said. I just think its a funner sport. 

10:50:48 am, Categories: Basketball by Ron POWELL

Birkel commits to North Dakota State

Lincoln Southeast senior guard Katie Birkel has made an oral commitment to play womens college basketball at North Dakota State. She will sign her national letter of intent next month.
Birkels strong showing this summer on the Cornhusker Shooting Stars select team caught the attention of several Division I programs as she turned down scholarship offers from Creighton and Southern Illinois. She becomes the third Shooting Star to commit Division I in the past month, joining Crete junior Marissa Kastanek (North Carolina State) and Overton senior Eva Benson (Evansville).
Birkel was a second-team all-city selection and honorable mention all-stater last winter, helping the Knights reach the Class A state tournament semifinals. The 5-8 Birkel averaged 11.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.7 steals per game.