The Louisville Lady Wildcats sent two players to the next level when Itasha Paty and Lymyia Fifer inked their commitments with their respective college programs last week. Paty signed with Coahoma Community College, while Fifer signed with Itawamba Community College.
Fresh off their MHSAA Class 4A State Basketball Championship last month, the duo made its commitment official last Monday during a ceremony hosted in the school’s gymnasium.
Fifer, a 6-foot-1 center, missed a portion of last season after being diagnosed with a heart condition, but she returned to the team and put up stellar numbers in the Lady Wildcats’ state championship run.
She ended the year averaging 6.5 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game, and is expected to develop even more in college.
“The last couple of years, she was behind some good players,” Louisville coach Kenyon Ross said. “She came back this year and was ready to step up, but at the beginning of the year, she was diagnosed with a heart murmur that kind of slowed her down. She was in tip-top shape before she had that, and it took her a minute to get back around. But once she got back around, she gave me what I thought she was going to give me this year.”
Paty joins a Coahoma program that went 7-16 last year. Ross said her best basketball is in front of her.
“When she was an eighth-grader, she was about a 5-foot-8 point guard who could handle the ball and had a very good skill set until she messed her knee up,” Ross said. “She eventually grew and she still has some of those skills, but she lost a little mobility and got down on herself a lot. But during that last year, you could just see her maturing into what everyone thought she was going to be.”
Fifer’s recruitment process picked up at the begging of the calendar year, and Porter was one of the first coaches to express interest in the Lady Wildcat.
“A lot of people really didn’t know that much about Lymyia because she hadn’t played in so many games, but when (Porter) saw her, she had a dominant inside game against Ingomar,” Ross said. “They’re getting a girl who can run the floor. For being her size, she can run the floor. She has a nice body and nice feet and size, and is just a good post player.”
Coahoma coach Stephanie Murphy observed Paty during a Louisville summer league game and took quick interest in the then-rising senior. Paty was a consistent source of points for the Lady Wildcats this season, as she posted 9 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.1 blocks per game.
“Itasha was one of her first commits that she offered this summer, and she liked her right on the spot,” Ross said. “Coahoma is getting a player who has the skill set to play multiple positions. She’s long and athletic, and those are the type of players Coach Murphy is looking for up there at Coahoma.”
