Kelly Karlis might be the most versatile player on the Ohio roster. The only thing stopping her from breaking through might be her mentality.
Standing six-foot-two, Karlis can use her size to get easy put backs inside, leverage an overdone closeout into a foray through the lane and she can step outside to hit the open jumper.
At least, that’s what we’ve been told.
Before an injury forced her to redshirt eight games into her freshman year, Karlis was the shooter her teammates and coaches say she is. She shot a scorching 10-19 (51 percent) on 3-pointers and shot 51 percent from the field overall.
When she came back the following season, however, her body may have healed, but her jump shot was nothing close to what it was. Karlis shot 20 percent from behind the 3-point line, and shot 31 percent overall.
Her teammates and coaches all gave the same diagnosis: Karlis’ confidence in her shot was just that—shot.
“…Kelly can shoot the ball, so now it’s just her letting it go when she’s open and not hesitating on the shot,” forward Jasmine Weatherspoon said.
So far this season, Karlis appears to have made a breakthrough. Combining the Thomas More exhibition and Sunday’s season opener at High Point, Karlis is 6-8 from 3-point range and 7-9 overall.
Although it’s a small sample size, coach Bob Boldon believes Karlis is rediscovering her stride.
“She’s shot the ball better this year than I’ve ever seen her shoot it, and I think some of that’s confidence,” Boldon said. “But, I think that confidence arises from a lot of work in the gym. I think she had the best summer that she’s ever had.”
Karlis’ return to sharpshooting form would be a welcomed addition, but Ohio has plenty of shooters. Where the Bobcats need her most is on the glass, and where Boldon is most excited about her is on defense.
First, the rebounding. Ohio was last in the Mid-American Conference in rebounding margin last season, and even in their 28 point victory over High Point, the Bobcats lost the rebound battle by three.
Karlis battles with Weatherspoon in practice everyday to work on boxing out. With the size challenges Ohio faces, Karlis’ development as a rebounder will be one of the biggest indicators in how much Ohio can improve its rebounding woes.
“As far as boxing me out, that’s one of (Karlis’) biggest roles here in practice,” Weatherspoon said. “We’re not gonna be the biggest team, as coach Boldon likes to say, so we have to work on boxing out and pursuing the ball.”
Defensively, Karlis has a chance to be special. She can’t jump like Weatherspoon, but Boldon raves about her defensive instincts and her uncommon agility for her size.
“Obviously (Weatherspoon) is our best shot blocker, but Kelly’s got good timing, she’s long and she has a good understanding of what we’re trying to do,” Boldon said. “Her versatility — I’ve seen her guard a lot of different players in our league, so that’s exciting. She’s guarded point guards to wings to five players. I think that’s where her big value comes in, from a defensive standpoint.”
Karlis has a buffet of talents. Only a redshirt sophomore, she has the potential to be the do it all type Boldon tries to morph all of his players into.
In the meantime, though, she just needs to keep the right mindset.
“Just keep being aggressive,” Karlis said. “This should be a pretty big year since Lexie (Baldwin) and (Kiyana Black) left. So, I think I have a little bit of room to step up to help out the team offensively this year.”
