SPRINGFIELD — There is a value in finding recruits that have been there before. The best available players often yield championships, or at least state appearance.
Not always, but it’s a fine place to start.
With NCAA Tournament dreams, Missouri State boasts several players that know the touch of championship gold. None more so than Audrey Holt, a member of the reigning Columbia Rock Bridge dynasty. She played on three of their four consecutive state title squads, knocking off the likes of Ozark, Nixa, and Parkview on their way to Mizzou Arena.
“(Coach Jill Nagel) ran us like a college program. I was constantly surrounded by Division I players so the transition from there to here felt pretty natural,” Holt said.
It was a virtual Division I program.
Four of her teammates now play for Robin Pingeton at Mizzou: the Cunningham sisters, Lindsey and Sophie, and the Porter siblings, Bri and Cierra. But Holt was passed over for much of that recruiting process, getting an honest assessment from the Tigers’ coach.
"She would always say to me: 'Man I wish you were just a few inches taller… just two or three.' Being an undersized post, it would have been harder for me to be in a major Division I school. Even if I had been recruited more heavily by Mizzou, I think Missouri State would still have been home.”
Kellie Harper and the Lady Bears were the benefactor of that scouting report. As a freshman, Holt appeared in all 33 games in the 2014-2015 campaign, tallying 102 points and 108 rebounds while providing some much-needed post presence for a team that had become synonymous for good guard play.
"She brings toughness, a winner's mentality, and does a lot of little things that we need out on the court that go unnoticed,” Harper said.
Holt was poised to take a step forward quickly this year before sustaining her fifth concussion. It was her first in basketball and it robbed nearly a month of her season.
The others illustrate how her road to Springfield wasn’t pave in championships alone. Her first concussion came years ago while playing soccer. One came in during workouts last year.
The remaining two were the product of car accidents, the second of which happened she fell asleep at the wheel on the highway.
“The second one state with me for a long time. For months, any time I would close my eyes,” Holt said. "I mean, you can feel it in your body. I couldn't sleep in a car for a really long time."
But Holt pushed through the trauma, both emotionally and that inflicted by head injuries, and moved forward. Now, she finds herself in Missouri State’s starting rotation after an injury to Aubrey Buckley. Ironically, it was Holt and the eventual champions who bested Buckley and the Parkview Lady Vikings in the 2014 state tournament.
“I hate the circumstances that it was under, with Aubrey being hurt. The thing that I take the most pride in is going really hard and giving my best. I knew I was going to do that regardless if I was starting or coming off the bench. I think we all have that in us and it's good to be surround by people who are just as determined to win."
As the smallest post on the team, Holt has made 10 starts this season, pulling down 4.7 rebounds per night. Maybe more noticeable is how her presence has allowed senior Hillary Chvatal to step and maximize her long-range shooting ability.
It’s the effect Harper expected when she landed the 6-foot-1 stopper.
"She's had some hurdles with her injury and the concussion she had to go through, but for her to get back to where she is this quickly, we're just really proud of her,” Harper said. "She's going to continue to get better."
Holt has felt the comfort settle in as well. But the most familliar feeling could be hosting another championship trophy.
