Kirkwood Womens Basketball

Goods named JUCO National Player of Year

Kirkwood sophomore Simone Goods was honored Friday with the 2017 Spalding NJCAA DII Women's Player of the Year Award after leading the  Eagles to the national title this season.

The selection was made by the DII women's basketball committee.

Kirkwood Coach Kim Muhl earlier was named the Spalding DII Coach of the Year by the committee.

Goods, a 6-foot-2 center from Omaha, averaged 16.2 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.7 blocks this season. She shot 67.9 percent from the field, which led the country.

Goods transferred to Kirkwood for the 2016-17 campaign after spending one year at Western Kentucky.

Kirkwood finished with a perfect 37-0 record this year and won the seventh national title in school history.

Goods averaged 15 points and 8.5 rebounds in four games at the national tournament and was named the tournament MVP. She also was named the conference MVP and the regional MVP.

Goods collected 10 double-doubles this season and scored in double figures in 34 of 37 games.

Muhl named Spalding National Coach of Year

Kirkwood women's basketball coach Kim Muhl has been named the 2017 Spalding Coach of the Year after leading the Eagles to the NJCAA  Division II national title this season.

The honor was bestowed by the Division II women's basketball committee.

Muhl guided Kirkwood to an unblemished 37-0 record en route to the program's seventh national title under his direction. He has won 829 games during his 28 years at Kirkwood.

3 Eagles named NJCAA All-Americans

Simone Goods and Deleyah Harris are both from Omaha, they both helped Kirkwood win the national this season and now both sophomores are  NJCAA Division II All-Americans.

Miles Wentzien, who starred for the Kirkwood men's basketball team, also has been named an All-American.

It should come as no surprise that Goods was selected as a first team All-American. She averaged 16.2 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.8 blocks as the Eagles won all 37 of their games en route to the national crown. She also led the nation in shooting percentage, hitting 67.9 percent  of her attempts.

Harris earned second team All-American honors this season. She averaged 13.3 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists as a do-it-all player who scored from all spots on the floor.

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Goods was great story for Kirkwood

Simone Goods admits she was scared.

She played basketball at Western Kentucky last season as a freshman, but did not feel comfortable there and transferred to Kirkwood this season for the next step in her career.

All of a sudden, she went from an NCAA Division I basketball program with all expenses paid to a junior college. It helped that Deleyah Harris, one of her best friends from Omaha, was already playing at  Kirkwood, but there were some anxious moments.

"I was definitely scared," Goods said Saturday night, "but I just had a lot of support."

That support came from her family, her new teammates and from Kirkwood Coach Kim Muhl and his entire staff.

"Coach Muhl always talks to me about how I've blossomed," she said, "because when I first got here he always tells me I was like a sad little dog."

Goods laughed when she made that last remark, because it came shortly after the 6-foot-2 center helped the Eagles win the NJCAA Division II  national title in Arkansas Saturday night.

Goods had a big double-double in the championship game with 19 points and 17 rebounds against Johnson County, despite being double-teamed  most of the night. She was named the MVP of the national tournament, adding to her collection as the league MVP and regional MVP this season.

Goods averaged 16.2 points and 8.2 rebounds this season and likely will be named a first team All-American when the postseason honors are announced. Keep in mind, she compiled those numbers despite playing only 21.7 minutes per game on a team that won all 37 of its games by more than 30 points per contest.

Goods shot 67.5 percent from the field, a mark that led the nation, and also displayed a fine touch at the foul line, hitting 76 percent  of her free throws.

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