Carissa Kaut plays in what would be her final high school basketball game during the Senior All-Star Game at Lower Columbia College on March 11, 2020.
Centralia High School senior Carissa Kaut announced her commitment to Centralia College women's basketball on Friday on Twitter.
For the fifth winter in a row, Carissa Kaut will be driving to the hoop with ‘Centralia’ emblazoned on the front of her jersey. Only this time, her jersey will be blue and yellow rather than orange and white. The Centralia High School senior is hopping across I-5 after committing to Centralia College women’s basketball, she announced on Twitter Friday.
“Ever since I was little I wanted to be a college basketball player,” Kaut said. “It’s really cool to see my dreams come to reality.”
Kaut is a three-sport athlete who’s also a standout soccer and tennis player. She earned all-league honors all four years in soccer and would have been a state title contender in tennis this season had spring sports not been canceled. She advanced to the state tournament in tennis her sophomore and junior years, placing fifth for doubles her sophomore year.
But she’s the best at basketball. A four-year starter, Kaut averaged 12.7 points, 9.2 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.4 steals per game in 19 starts for the Tigers this season, earning her an all-2A Evergreen Conference honorable mention selection. She was less than a rebound per game away from becoming just the second girls basketball player to record a double-double this season.
Playing since she was five years old, it’s the relationships she builds, not the actual gameplay, that she likes most about the sport.
“Getting to play with so many good girls over the years, I’ve built a lot of good friendships and some of my closest friends are my teammates,” Kaut said. “It makes it even more fun.”
She’s joining a Trailblazers team that dominated the West Region of the Northwest Athletic Conference this past winter. Centralia tallied a 21-7 record that included a 14-game win streak, a perfect 14-0 league record and a No. 1 seed at the NWAC tourney that was canceled due to the novel coronavirus outbreak.
“That definitely helped my decision,” Kaut said. “I wanted to go somewhere that was successful, not just last year but in coming years. I think they’re going to be bringing in a solid class this year.”
Kaut’s personal success has been predicated on putting in extra work wherever and whenever she can. She spent time after practices working out with her coaches, shooting on weekends, playing AAU ball and draining jumpers at her hoop at home — which she’s currently doing every day now with the statewide stay-at-home orders from Gov. Jay Inslee.
It’s those solitary training sessions that she often relishes the most.
“It’s some of the best times,” Kaut said. “I like to play music and get in some shooting. It releases a lot of stress that I may be feeling. It’s a way to take a break from my schoolwork and everything else.”
Staying at home this past month has given Kaut plenty of time to weigh her collegiate options. She had many to choose from, including some from out of state. It was a decision-making process made more difficult with colleges around the state shutdown from the novel coronavirus outbreak.
The recruitment process involved texting and email conversations with college coaches across the state. She had six colleges interested, including two, the University of Puget Sound and Pacific University, who wanted her for both basketball and tennis.
Ultimately, she decided the best fit was to stay home.
She’s joining Rochester duo Lexie Sederberg-Jones, a 5-foot-8 guard who averaged 12.2 points per game for the Warriors this past winter; and Kortney Kerbaugh, a 5-foot-11 post who scored 7.3 points per game.
Kaut knows both players well and also some of the Trailblazers’ current sophomores who will soon be graduating. Kaut spent many winter nights at the Centralia College gym watching the Blazers blast opponents.
“With the whole quarantine situation, I realized that the best possible place for me to be is at Centralia College next year,” Kaut said. “I want to stay home and continue doing what I’m doing.”
