Trojans' Kempton commits to Gonzaga

Melody Kempton went on a Catholic church retreat last weekend and her future in college became clear.

So on Sunday night, the Post Falls High junior called Gonzaga women’s basketball coach Lisa Fortier and verbally committed to join the Bulldogs program in 2018.

“I love the educational side of Gonzaga,” said Kempton, a 6-footer who plays in the post at Post Falls. “The classes are so small ... and the basketball program is amazing.”

Kempton was a second-team 5A All-Idaho selection last year, after averaging 13.8 points, 10.0 rebounds and 1.6 blocked shots. She was named Player of the Year in the 5A Inland Empire League as a freshman and sophomore.

Kempton, who was offered by Gonzaga a month or two ago, also had scholarship offers from Washington State, Idaho, Boise State, Montana, Montana State, University of San Diego, as well as a couple other schools in California.

In the end, she said she chose Gonzaga over Washington State, in part also because Gonzaga is a Jesuit school and is closer to home.

“I think it’s a great fit,” Post Falls girls basketball coach Marc Allert said. “I think she’ll really fit in with the style they play. It’s close to home, and she wants to get into med school.”

Gonzaga envisions her as a “stretch 4,” facing the basket, which will be an adjustment after playing with her back to the basket out of necessity the first two seasons at Post Falls.

“It more caters to what I’m good at,” said Kempton, who played a combo 4-5 position with the North Idaho Elite AAU team, coached by North Idaho College coaches Chris and Carey Carlson. “It will be nice to stretch out and play a position which my body’s made for.”

Allert and Kempton both said she’ll need to work on her ballhandling and outside shooting to prepare for the position switch.

“This summer I basically had her play guard, just getting ready for that,” Allert said. “With her athleticism, they see her as someone who can run the floor. They want to get back to more of a Courtney Vandersloot (era) transition team.”

The last Post Falls girls basketball player to play at Gonzaga was Katy Ridenour, a 2003 Post Falls grad who played for the Zags from 2003-07.

Kempton is still a year away from being able to sign an official letter of intent with Gonzaga. She said she wanted to get her decision out of the way so she could concentrate on high school and high school sports.

“It’s stressful, honestly,” Kempton said of the recruiting process. “I didn’t think it would be bad, people trying to get you to go to their school. But it’s been stressful.”