Shining Schuneman: JC senior key to Jimmies’ success

• Kellie Schuneman

Jamestown College senior Kellie Schuneman has been an integral part of the program for five seasons and is going out on top in her senior season. (Sun file photo / John M. Steiner )

Talk about it

Boxscores don’t tell the whole story on Jamestown College’s Kellie Schuneman. Just ask coach Greg Ulland.

The 5-foot-5 guard, the only senior in the regular rotation for the seventh-ranked Jimmie women, does a little bit of everything, while sometimes going under the radar, but not to Ulland.

“You can’t point to the stat sheet and determine what she brings to the table for us,” said Ulland. “She does so many things you can’t define by stats.”

Her numbers are solid. She’s third on the 26-3 Jimmies in scoring (7.7 points per game) and second in assists (2.0 pg), but her impact goes deeper.

“As a program we want good basketball players, obviously that’s important. But with Kellie this is a really good kid,” Ulland said. “She’s phenomenal off the floor. She’s a great teammate and good in the classroom.

“You don’t like thinking about it, but she’s going to be a tough girl to replace both on and off the floor.”

Schuneman and the Jimmies begin the postseason today at the A.I.I./Independent Conference tournament in Madison, S.D. They’re the top seed and are virtually a lock to go to nationals regardless of what happens this weekend.

Schuneman’s career has spanned five years at JC. She missed all of last season with a knee injury, but has returned in style.

“It goes so fast I haven’t even thought about how much is left or how many more games we have. It’s just so much fun playing with these girls, hopefully it goes a lot longer,” she said.

She went over the 1,000-point plateau this season, but it’s the 26 wins that resonate most.

“When you play on a team with good coaches and good teammates, all you really worry about is how we do as a team,” the Lino Lakes, Minn., native said. “Obviously you want to do well and help your team win, but that’s what makes it unique is that we really have a lot of girls that are unselfish and just want everyone else to do well. That makes it really fun.”

Schuneman was originally lured to Jamestown by Mark Wiest, who also brought in her sister Bridget Schuneman, and their high school teammate Hannah Steele — the Jimmies’ three top scorers.

“It’s crazy when you think about it, but it’s fun. We have good chemistry together, but you could really say that about our whole team,” she said.

The Jimmies play Valley City State (18-13) for the fourth time tonight. The Jimmies have won the previous three meetings. A win would put them in Sunday’s championship game and clinch a bid to nationals. There’s no need for major changes now.

“We just need to keep doing what we’ve been doing. That’s worked really well for us so far,” said Schuneman, a double-major in exercise science and business administration. “We have some big goals we still want to achieve.”

Ulland echoed that and thinks they have room to grow.

“When you have girls like Kellie that really work hard and want to get better that’s exciting. That’s why I still think we haven’t peaked yet and can hopefully go on a run where we’re really clicking on both ends of the floor,” he said.

For Schuneman, who says she’d like to find a job in the area after graduation, would like to keep wearing the orange and black a while longer.

“I’ve had so much fun here, you definitely don’t want it to end,” she said. “And hopefully it won’t, at least not for a few more weeks.”

Sun sports editor Dave Selvig can be reached at (701) 952-8460 or by e-mail at daves@jamestownsun.com

Tags: college sports, jimmies, sports, basketball