Morgan Harwood led the 2013-14 Great Bend High School girls’ basketball team in points and rebounds in several games.
As a senior, the Lady Panthers’ post player was in the market for a new team.
Harwood landed on Labette Community College, signing her letter of intent to play hoops for the Lady Cardinals on Wednesday.
“I had five or six choices and I narrowed it down to two,” Harwood said. “(Labette) is more of a family environment. I liked how the whole town is involved in all the college activities.”
Harwood will be studying pre-med at Labette while playing for Lady Cardinals head coach Anna Nimz. Labette finished last season with a 16-14 mark.
Harwood averaged 10.7 points and 7.8 rebounds per game for the Lady Panthers this season.
Great Bend finished 21-4 on the season, placing fourth at the Class 5A State Tournament.
Harwood will be joining fellow Great Bend senior McKenna Mauler, who signed her letter of intent to play on the Labette squad at the same time on Wednesday.
“It’s kind of cool,” Harwood said. “We’re pretty good friends. We’ve been playing since we were in fifth grade together, so we have pretty good chemistry.”
Harwood is looking forward to playing at the next level.
“It’s going to be a different experience,” Harwood said. “I’m going to have to work harder.”
Harwood said it wasn’t until her sophomore year that she thought about playing past high school.
“My sophomore year, I started wondering if that would be an opportunity for me,” Harwood said. “It feels great. It’s always a good feeling to be able to keep playing.”
GBHS head coach Carrie Minton said that Harwood is a good pick up for Labette.
“For Labette to get Morgan, I think they are extremely fortunate,” Minton said. “Morgan is one who is only going to get better as she continues to play. For her, I think she’s going to get an opportunity to play a position that is probably more fitting for her size-wise.”
While Harwood played the low post for Great Bend, Minton said that might change at the next level.
“We always counted on Morgan to play big, and she did that for us,” Minton said. “At the next level, they’re probably going to move her outside, but she’ll probably be just as comfortable because Labette runs a very similar offense that we run here.
“I think it’s a great move and I think that she’s going to continue to get better and be a huge part of their program.”