Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

There’s really not much more Kailey Woolston can do in high school basketball.

She’s been arguably the best player in the state for at least the last two years, leading Lone Peak to back-to-back 6A titles. She had the best points per game average in her classification each season, while also putting up solid numbers in rebounds, assists, steals and blocks.

That’s why the Knight senior earned her second-straight Daily Herald Utah Valley Girls Basketball Player of the Year honor.

But Woolston has never been someone who feels like she’s good enough.

No, she now has her sights set on emulating one of the best college basketball players in the country: Iowa’s Caitlin Clark.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

“Caitlin Clark was amazing in this year’s NCAA tournament,” Woolston said in a phone interview earlier this week. “I want to be able to pass like her. I don’t have that kind of vision, so being able to watch her passing ability and her court vision has been super helpful for me to be able to add that to my game because I haven’t always been the best passer.”

Lone Peak head coach Nancy Warner said she already sees a lot of similarities between Woolston and the talented Hawkeye superstar.

“It’s tough to compare players because I think they are all so different, with their own unique abilities and traits,” Warner said. “But I think Kaylee shows a lot of the similar traits to Caitlin Clark. There is the fact that she’s got range in her shooting ability. She can play different positions. She’s just somebody that you have to always be aware of on the floor. And I think that leadership and example is something that just makes her successful and then those around her super-successful.”

Can Woolston end up taking the college basketball world by storm like Clark has over the last couple of seasons?

It’s far too early to answer that question — but she is excited to get to BYU and see what she is capable of.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

“It’s so exciting,” Woolston said. “I’m really excited for what (Cougar head coach Amber Whiting) has going and a lot of the new recruits coming in, of the team and the camaraderie that we’re going to have. I’m really excited to move on to the next level and see what I can do there.”

Warner is also looking forward to watching her gifted star take that next step, with a little added interest since Woolston will be playing for Warner’s alma mater.

“I think that she is going to be able to make her own impact, an immediate impact,” Warner said. “I’m excited to watch her compete in the Big 12. It’s a pretty dominant basketball conference, so I think just the fact that she gets play against some of the best players in the country and be able to showcase her ability is super-exciting. I’m definitely going to be watching a lot of BYU games next year.”

While that’s just around the corner for Woolston, she is still closing out her senior year of high school. She took a moment to reflect on what Lone Peak was able to accomplish in 2022-23.

“It was so much fun since we’ve pretty much all been together for so long,” Woolston said. “It’s just like we’re family and have so much chemistry. Any night can be anybody’s night and it was so much fun to see. Everybody has thrived in that environment.”

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

As great as Woolston was during the year, she had a tough game in the 6A finals against Skyridge. While that wasn’t ideal, the Knights still won.

“I didn’t play my best,” Woolston said. “I had a rough shooting night and I had too many turnovers. But just being able to see everybody else coming together, even though like a lot of us were having a bad night, was amazing. It was just about coming together as a team and getting it done there in the fourth quarter.”

Woolston felt like there were some valuable lessons to learn from the adversity of that contest.

“I think what I learned is that those games are unavoidable,” Woolston said. “They’ll always happen in the course of the season. Even in the course of games, you’ll go through little shooting slumps. Being able to just move on to the next play and not worry about it and keep your head in the game, that’s really important.”

Warner said Woolston proved her “composure and consistency” in that game but she wasn’t surprised since she has seen the senior invest in her craft to get that confidence.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

“She meant everything to the team,” Warner said. “Everything kind of revolved around her and that’s just the type of leader that she is. I think that she not only gets hers but she also makes everyone else around her better. I can’t emphasize enough the things that make her so special and make her her. She is unmatched in the fact that she puts in so much time, more than I’ve ever seen. She’s always trying to improve in every way that she can.”

Woolston and Lone Peak will actually get to take the floor at least one more time this weekend when they compete at the State Champions Invitational in Washington, D.C. As the No. 2-seed, the Knights will play in the semifinals on Friday at 10 a.m. MT with the winner moving on to Saturday’s finals.

It’s one last chance for Woolston to wear the Lone Peak uniform with her teammates before moving on. She said her advice to the next generation of Knights is simple and straightforward.

“Keep it going,” Woolston said. “Keep up the teamwork and don’t let anything get in the way of what you have going here. Keep rolling.”

Lone Peak senior Kailey Woolston blocks a shot during the 6A semifinal game against Fremont at the Dee Events Center in Ogden on Thursday, March 2, 2023.

Lone Peak junior Kailey Woolston shoots a jump shot during the 6A championship game against Fremont in the Marriott Center in Provo on Saturday, March 5, 2022. (Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald)

Lone Peak senior Kailey Woolston dribbles up the court during the 6A semifinal game against Fremont at the Dee Events Center in Ogden on Thursday, March 2, 2023.

Lone Peak senior Kailey Woolston (left) and junior Shawnee Nordstrom celebrate after the 6A championship game against Skyridge at the Dee Events Center in Ogden on Saturday, March 4, 2023.

Lone Peak senior Kailey Woolston drives to the basket during the non-region game against Timpview in Highland on Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2022.

Newsletter

Join thousands already receiving our daily newsletter.

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)

• Daily Newsletter
• Breaking News
• Obituaries
• Deals, Offers & Events