MILWAUKEE — The sign says it all. And add 2019-2020 to the list. The Rufus king girls are the mighty, mighty Generals, of the City Conference.
"Basketball players who come here want to be part of something that's just bigger than themselves...right? They want to be part of a team. They want to be a part of an environment where it's a challenge. Where what they receive is earned, and they want to be a part of something special. I think we've established that RK that they wear on their chest, means something," Head Coach Craig Machut says.
Especially to Khamya McNeal who will go to Syracuse in the fall.
"It's a great honor... I'm really proud of myself. You know, I came a long way from like, transferring that really like, put me in like a position like I was kind of sad because I knew I wasn't going to be able to play for a while. And just getting that offer, and knowing that I'm going to be able to play, next level? It made me happy," McNeal says.
"Getting a scholarship to Syracuse is no small feat by any means...she can just score the basketball. Absolutely can score. She can score in any way. Inside, outside. Some of the stuff that she pulls off, we just kind of turn and look at each other and go? I guess she did it again," Machut says.
When did McNeal believe she could play, at the division one level?
"I really didn't believe I could play at like the next level, like college until...maybe my sophomore year, in the summer," McNeal says.
And it didn't come, without a cost. As she transferred from Shorewood 2 years ago and had to sit out a full year.
"It was a really hard decision...I really didn't make it, my Mom made it. So I really didn't understand at first. But now, I understand like she did what was best for me. And my, bettering myself. Not necessarily my career, my basketball career but myself," McNeal says.
So while the Generals future appears bright, and Syracuse might be called the Orange, McNeal knows it certainly isn't sunny in upstate New York all the time...getting more snow than us.
"I really don't personally like the snow...but I looked past that because I like the school," McNeal says with a laugh.
