Great Bend High School senior Jordan Haney has decided where to spend the next few years of her life: Kansas Wesleyan University.
Haney signed her letter of intent to play for the Coyotes softball team on Tuesday at 1 p.m.
Haney said even though she visited more than one school, she had her heart set on Kansas Wesleyan.
“(Kansas Wesleyan) was the first school I visited,” Haney said. “I pretty much instantly fell in love with it, but I visited Tabor College after that.
“I liked the campus, the school and that its close to home. And I liked the coaching staff.”
Haney will be joining Coyotes head coach Daryl Hoelting, who joined the university in May, for his second season.
Hoelting said that Haney’s family was a big part of what makes Haney an attractive recruit.
“I know her dad and mom are very athletic oriented and have been involved with her athletics and I really like that,” Hoelting said. “I don’t want to get just a player. I want to get a player, a student and I want to have good parents on board.
“It seemed like everything fit. She was all of those.”
Haney has been playing softball since she was in fourth grade. She is a dual threat as a pitcher and a short stop.
Hoelting said that he was considering playing Haney at first base.
“I’ll play wherever he puts me,” Haney said. “I just want to play. I have some experience at first base. I played there as a freshman and a little bit as a sophomore.”
Regardless of where Haney plays, former GBHS head coach Jason Duvall, who coached Haney for three years, said that Kansas Wesleyan is getting a solid player.
“She is a very good player,” Duvall said. “She is very fundamentally sound. She’s a hard worker who wants to be good, and she does everything she needs to do, to do that. The (Kansas Wesleyan) program just picked up a really good player.”
Hoelting agreed that Haney is a great addition to his program.
“I know she is an all-around athlete,” Hoelting said. “She plays softball, volleyball and basketball. We like students like that in our program.
“I know that she is very academically sound. I think she’s going to be a very good softball for us.”