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Former Northwest Halifax guard Kavina Ransom will attend Francis Marion University in Florence, S.C., this fall. The Patriots compete in the Peach Belt Conference and will compete as a Division I school next season.
Ransom just completed her career at Louisburg College, a junior college in Louisburg.
In two seasons under head coach Mike Holloman, she compiled 434 career assists - a school record. The previous mark was 371, set in 1990.
“I've been here 19 years, and she is one of the top players that I've coached,” Holloman said. “She will certainly contribute at Francis Marion.”
Holloman felt that Ransom can go into FMU and start immediately.
“She has been our floor leader for two years,” he added. “She has really improved her game, and carried us at times offensively.”
During the 2006-2007 season, Ransom averaged 11.6 ppg, 9.0 assists and 3.5 steals in 28 games with the Hurricanes.
The 5-foot, 5-inch guard was named to the All-Region Team in 2006, and was named the Region 10 player of the year.
The Roanoke Rapids native was also an honorable mention All-American.
Holloman knows a player of Ransom's caliber will truly be missed next season.
“She is going to be hard to replace,” he said. “You like to see the kids move on, but we are surely going to miss her. She contributed in so many areas. She can pass, take the ball from anybody (and is) definitely one of the quickest players I've coached. Kavina has the ability to make other players better.”
The 2005 graduate of Northwest Halifax was a four-year starter for the Lady Vikings, and Northwest Halifax head coach Jimmie Roberts remembers exactly when he knew Ransom could play at the next level.
“We went to a Christmas tournament in Tarboro,” the coach recalled. “It was her freshman year and we beat Southwest Edgecombe. They had some dominant players, and she was dominant on defense. I (realized) then that she was something special.”
A four-year starter, especially at point guard, is hard to find on the high school level, and Roberts raved about how important Ransom was to the Viking program.
“She took us to another level,” he said. “She could dominate on defense and was always pass first, shoot second. [Kavina] was the best point guard I've ever had ... and we've had some good ones at Northwest Halifax. She was very coachable and always wanted to get better. She never missed a practice and was the first one there and the last one to leave.”
Roberts said that he and Ransom talk all the time and she even came back to Northwest last summer to help out with a summer camp.
Roberts hopes the current Lady Vikings will see how successful Ransom is and realize they can make it to the next level.
“She is a great role model for them,” Roberts said. “Not only on the court, but also in the classroom.
“I'm pleased with her academics. She really buckled down and did what she had to do to make herself successful.”
Ransom's former coach added he wouldn't be surprised if this wasn't the last step for his former point guard. “She has come a long way, and is a good example of what hard work and dedication will do for you. She has the athletic ability to play at the next level ... beyond college.”
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