Highland’s Kronk enjoying start of freshman season at Kaskaskia College

The transition from high school basketball backcourt player to college freshman player has been a challenging yet enjoyable experience so far in the 2020-21 season for 2020 Highland graduate Megan Kronk.

Kronk, who helped lead the Lady Bulldogs to the IHSA Class 3A sectional in February, is now settling in and learning the game while attending classes at Kaskaskia College in Centralia.

So far, the transition has gone pretty well.

“Things are going really great,” Kronk said. “I really love all my teammates and I have great roommates who are obviously on my team and my freshman year has really started off well.”

After starting classes in late August, Kronk and her Blue Devils teammates began their fall workouts by lifting weights in early September.

“So, two or three weeks into school we were able to start lifting weights and we were able to do that because we were able to stay socially distanced with our masks on in the fitness center and be spread out while staying safe,” Kronk said.

In mid-September, the Blue Devils starting doing individual practices at different times in their on-campus gym with head coach Jay Jenkins while adhering to COVID-19 restrictions and guidelines.

“We had our own time slots where we would go to the gym and coach Jay would be in there. We were only allowed one person per basket, so we were all given packets of stuff we could work on and coach Jay would come around and help us develop the skills that we needed to work on,” Kronk said.

Transition to typical practices at Kaskaskia

Next for Kronk and her Kaskaskia teammates was the transition into regular practices in early November while still following COVID-19 guidelines.

“About a month before school got out (for the semester), we were cleared to go to more of a practice-like setting where we were able to all be in the gym at the same time,” Kronk said. “We all had to wear masks and had to take Germ-x breaks every 15 or 20 minutes where we would go and put Germ-X on. And, obviously, we took mask breaks more often because it’s obviously a lot harder to continue to run and do all that kind of stuff with the masks on.”

Kronk said playing with the mask on definitely presents a bigger challenge in practice and has taken some adjusting to.

“It’s definitely a lot harder to play with a mask on, but we’re definitely willing to do it if means we can get in the gym and start practicing and get better to hopefully have a season,” Kronk said.

Scrimmages offer perspective for Kronk

Also, the Blue Devils scrimmaged some during those practices and those workouts gave Kronk a good early look at what the college game is like. Kronk noted, being a younger player, she has been able to learn from the older players as well as adapt to the style and speed of the college game.

“I think one of the main things for me is just kind of being able to adapt to playing with girls who are older than you and stronger than you, so you have to kind of learn how to build muscle quickly by getting in the weight room and putting in extra work,” Kronk said.

“In high school the game was a little bit slower but it was different because you didn’t have the shot clock. But with the shot clock in college you’ve really got to be able to get moving ... that’s definitely been the biggest change.”

Kronk said her general education classes went well this fall, and she wrapped up finals this week.

Ready for basketball season

Kronk will head back to campus in January and the Blue Devils will start official season practices Jan. 3. The season is slated to begin approximately two weeks later in mid-January.

Overall, Kronk just hopes to learn and fit in at whatever role the team needs her in.

“Playing with these new girls,I’ve already kind of found my role and where I need to go. But for myself I just really need to get out there and keep playing and see what role I need take to help us as a team get the win whether it’s shooting, driving in (to the basket), kicking out (passes) or whether it’s playing good defense and just doing all those things to the best of my abilities,” Kronk said.

This story was originally published December 9, 2020 at 9:00 AM.