Jaron Kirkley has had success throughout his basketball career, whether it is in the prep scene of Mossyrock or on the collegiate court in Walla Walla.
Kirkley is about to enter his junior year playing basketball at Whitman College. It’s going to be tough to top the first two years, culminating in a pair of deep runs into the NCAA Division III tournament.
Before arriving in Eastern Washington, Kirkley was the star of the Mossyrock boys basketball team. His prep career peaked his senior season, when the Vikings made a run in the 2B State basketball tournament to the championship game.
Kirkley scored 20 points in the championship game in a loss to Northwest Christian. Even with the loss, it was still a great experience for Kirkley.
“It was a pretty great experience because many people and other teams thought we should have never made it that far. Me and then a couple other teammates just went off when it mattered and then we ended up going that far because there were a lot of teams that were better than us that year that had overall better players,” Kirkley said. “We just played a really good game for the first three rounds. It was a good experience to go a lot further than what people expected and prove them wrong.”
Kirkley was able to build his skills by playing against solid competition in the Central 2B League, including his friend in former Morton-White Pass’ star Kaleb Poquette.
“Me and Kaleb, we’ve been really good friends since sixth grade, we were rivals in high school but we were on the same team during the summer time for AAU,” Kirkley said. “It was more of a friendship, pushing each other so we could both make college, instead of a rivalry.”
When looking at schools to play college basketball at, Kirkley was sold on Whitman when he saw how close the team was.
“Their brotherhood that the team has. I’ve been with a lot of teams and I’ve never seen a team like ours that has a sense of friendship and being together at all times,” Kirkley said. “It seemed like everyone was already friends when I came as a recruit on a visit. That’s one of the main focuses our coach (Eric Bridgeland) focused on all year is making sure that we build a bond.”
After Kirkley arrived in Walla Walla, he needed some time to adjust from high school and playing with more talented players.
“It was a pretty big adjustment because I was used to always having the ball in my hand,” Kirkley said. “Then moving to a team that has a lot of talented players and not only that, the style we play, full court press. It’s just something completely different.”
Kirkley noted he had high standards going into his freshman season and it paid off on the court. He played in 31 of 32 games, playing 10.3 minutes per game and scoring 3.6 points per contest.
Whitman was undefeated and won the Northwest Conference championship over Whitworth. The Blues entered the NCAA Tournament and won the first four games to make it to the Final Four, falling to eventual champion Babson 91-85 for the Blues’ lone loss of the season. Kirkley played two minutes in the game, but the experience helped give him a taste of how tough it is to make it to the Final Four.
“It was a great experience because it let me know what has to be done for the next few seasons if we want to make it back or make it further,” Kirkley said.
After fine-tuning his game in the summer, Kirkley came back for his sophomore campaign and saw his role expand. He played in 29 of 31 games, averaging 15.2 minutes per game and recording 6.2 points per game. He added 43 assists and improved his shooting percentage from behind the arc to 42.9 percent.
Whitman was 29-2 last season with an undefeated record in the regular season. The Blues fell in the Northwest Conference championship game to Whitworth, but still earned a berth into the NCAA Tournament.
Whitman won the first three games before running into Nebraska Wesleyan in the Elite 8, losing 130-97. Nebraska Wesleyan went on to win the national championship.
“The season went well. I truly think every player on our team gave their best to try to make the best run we could, we just met a team on the wrong night when they were feeling everything because they shot like 70 percent field goal or something like that on us,” Kirkley said. “The results didn’t go our way. Still, we had a great time as a team as like building the friendships and bonds throughout the whole season. I think it was a great experience for the people that came back because you realize how actually tough it is to make it all the way so we’ve got to work harder than we ever thought we could.”
Kirkley is majoring in environmental studies and plans to play basketball overseas after his time at Whitman is over.
Following basketball, Kirkley hopes to use his degree to work for the Department of Fish and Wildlife rebuilding river habitats.
“I’ve always been an outdoors person. I do a lot of fishing and hunting so I like the outdoors so after I finish my basketball career, if everything goes as planned, finishing overseas, then I can see that as a job that I would really enjoy,” Kirkley said. “Helping the salmon and steelhead and the wildlife and so it wouldn’t feel like a job to me.”
Kirkley helps out with the youth basketball program in Mossyrock when he has time. He has cousin’s participating in the program.
Kirkley will be back in Walla Walla soon, with classes beginning at Whitman on Aug. 29. He enjoys Walla Walla, but the outdoor opportunities aren’t quite up to par with the west side of Washington.
“It’s a very pretty area. I think it’s a lot better than a lot of other places I could have went to college but I still kind of miss the west side because it’s better fishing overall,” Kirkley said. “It’s still a really pretty area, especially the Blue Mountains.”
Kirkley thanked the Walla Walla community for the continued help and support of the Whitman College men’s basketball team.
Whitman begins the 2018-19 season on Nov. 11 against LeTourneau University. Kirkley has some high goals for his junior campaign.
“Pretty much be a starter at point guard and then of course, our goal is to win a championship this year and just be more of a leader,” Kirkley said. “Be vocal and make sure people are on page, to make sure they give their best effort everyday so we have a better chance of winning a championship.”
