Western Nebraska Community College's Karli Seay had an outstanding freshman season for the Cougars last year and she will now forgo her sophomore year at WNCC after signing with Louisiana State University to play basketball.
LSU women's basketball coach Nikki Fargas is excited to get Seay into the Tigers program.
"I'm excited about having Karli as a part of the Lady Tiger family," Fargas said in a press release. "Karli brings a lot to the table with her scoring ability and aggressive defending. She is also a high character young woman on and off the floor."
Seay a 5-foot-9 guard from Flossmoor, Illinois, is excited to be playing Division I basketball at LSU since she has been dreaming of it since she first started playing basketball.
"It's an opportunity for me to learn and grow, both on & off the court. I look forward to being a member of the LSU family," Seay said. "I started playing basketball in first grade, I've always just tried to consistently improve and my goal was always to get ready for the next level."
WNCC coach Chad Gibney is excited for Seay and wishes her continue success at LSU.
"We are very excited for Karli to have an opportunity to compete at the highest level," Gibney said. "She was an unbelievable representative of our program. Her performance on the court spoke for itself, but what struck out was her unselfishness, her continued improvement throughout the year, and how she interacted with her teammates."
Seay was selected to play in an all-star game in July for players that will be sophomores next year, but had to pull out of the all-star contest because she inked with LSU. Seay provided plenty of excitement on the court during her freshman year at WNCC.
The Cougar point guard averaged 14.3 points, 4.9 assists and 2.9 rebounds per game for the Cougars. WNCC earned an at-large bid to the NJCAA national tournament in Lubbock, Texas, where Seay scored 33 points in the first-round game against Tallahassee Community College, who went on to win the national title.
In the Region IX championship game against Casper College, Seay scored 30 points and dished out four assists. During the regular season, she scored a career-high 48 points in a 92-81 win at Eastern Wyoming College. Her 48 points set a WNCC single-game record that had stood for 39 seasons.
"My time at WNCC was everything good," Seay said. "We were a team, both on the court and off," she said. "Coach Gibney helped prepare me for the next level by pushing me to be my best, while having confidence in me as well. I will never forget making it to nationals and leaving it all on the court."
Gibney said it was fun to watch Seay improve her game, especially accepting her role as the sixth-person off the bench.
"Karli was an absolute joy to coach," he said. "I know she will continue to have an amazing career."
Seay joins a LSU program that went 19-10 a year ago and lost to Central Michigan in the first-round of the NCAA women's tournament.
Seay becomes the seventh player from last year's team to ink with a four-year school and the third to attend a Division I institution. She follows in the footsteps of sophomores Jaleesa Avery, who is headed to Morehouse State, and Melisa Kadic, who is headed to Idaho State. Also signing to continue playing were Anastacia Johnson at Missouri Western, Giovanna Silva at Peru State, Kellie Gaston at Fisher College, and Sophie Agorakis at Dickinson State.
Seay said she grew a bunch at WNCC and will cherish everything.
"I want others to look at me and know to believe that they can do it too," she said. "Being determined, wanting it for myself, my family's unconditional support, coaches that believed in me and their investment was the right formula for me."