Signing:  the 2024 NJCAA DI Women’s Basketball Player of the Year, has been signed by Arkansas women’s basketball head coach Mike Neighbors

FAYETTEVILLE: Kiki Smith, the 2024 NJCAA DI Women’s Basketball Player of the Year, has been signed by Arkansas women’s basketball head coach Mike Neighbors, it was revealed on Thursday. Smith just finished a stellar first year in junior college, capped off by a JUCO National Tournament victory with Hutchinson Community College. The product of Topeka, Kansas, is the sixth signee ahead of the 2024–25 season and the fourth this offseason. He will have three years of eligibility at Arkansas.

“I hope Kiki Smith is leaving Hutch this year.” She is just what we require. A creator, not a marksman

While I was on my way back from the National Junior College Tournament in Casper, Wyoming, I sent an exact SMS to an assistant.

Before the event, all the talk was about Kiki coming back to Hutch for her sophomore year; however, after they finished their undefeated 37-0 season, the talk shifted.

Her family had a great visit to the campus, and it was clear our first suspicions were founded.

Basketball players at all levels search for “180” shooters. shooting players whose FG%, 3PFG%, and FT% sum up to a total of 180.

Kiki shot 179.9 over the course of 37 games against the strongest opponents who had the best strategies to stop her.

I tend to be round-up. I had to be, given how many 79.5s I received in school!

However, I’m positive that we signed a solid one when Kiki refused to round up. Next year, she hopes to shoot 180.

Kiki, welcome home!

voted First Team All-American and 2024 NJCAA DI Women’s Basketball Player of the Year
Selected for the NJCAA First Team, Player of the Year in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference, and KJCCC Freshman of the Year
logged 17.6 points per game, including 3.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 2.7 steals a game, while starting all 37 games. He also shot 55.9 percent from the field (237 for-424), 44.4 percent from beyond the arc (82 for-103), and 79.6 percent from the free throw line (82 for-103).

She led the team with 652 points and broke the freshman scoring record at Hutchinson CC. In addition, she ranked second in school history for points scored in a single season and seventh nationally in scoring. A school record was achieved by her 82 3-pointers.
20 more blocked shots and 30.5 minutes on average each game
Served as the JUCO National Tournament MVP, guiding the Blue Dragons to a perfect 37-0 record and the national title.

During the team’s title run, she concluded the national tournament with 68 points, 14 rebounds, and nine steals. In the national championship game over Northwest Florida State, Smith recorded 23 points and four rebounds.
Against Pratt, he scored a career-high 33 points on 12–17 field goals and 6–11 from beyond the arc. CC was recognized on the First Team three times and was a 6A All-State pick throughout her four years at Topeka High School.
scored, on average, more than twenty points every game throughout her junior and senior years of high school.