Nov. 1, 2024
Ferris State guard Kadyn Blanchard is excited to begin senior season as basketball team looks to build on last year’s success
On the eve of starting her senior season on the hardwood, Kadyn Blanchard couldn't be more excited to tip off the 2024-25 season.
The Freeland native is ready to come together with a dozen of her best friends – her Bulldog teammates -- as a new season begins for the women's basketball team.
The team is ranked 15th nationally by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association Division II preseason poll, in the Conference Commissioner's Association Tipoff Classic in St. Joseph, Missouri on Saturday, Nov. 2.
"I'm super excited," said a smiling 5-foot-10 Blanchard, a 2024-25 preseason All-Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference selection. "Our preseason has already flown by like in the blink of an eye. I love that we have a really good group of girls coming back and we still have really good experience on our team. I'm excited to see how our season goes."
The Bulldogs graduated two standouts from last season in versatile forward Chloe Idoni and point guard Mallory McCartney, the team's floor leader. But fellow seniors joining Blanchard are West Michigan guards Kenzie Bowers, from Kent City, and DeShonna Day, of Muskegon. The team also welcomes a seasoned group of juniors joining the seniors to help lead the younger talented returners and incoming Bulldogs on the roster.
Blanchard, a former first-team all-state pick as a prep standout at Freeland, has already pledged her dedication to the team as it begins a new season,
In the 2023-24 campaign the team won the program's first NCAA Division II Midwest Region Championship, advanced to the Elite Eight, and eventually to the Final Four – finishing with a 26-6 record and ranked third in the final WBCA Division II rankings.
As a junior, Blanchard averaged 12.9 points, 5.8 rebounds, and two assists enroute to earning first-team All-GLIAC honors.
The hard-working Blanchard, who battled back from injury to return to form to lead Ferris State last season, is in part guided by a word that is foundational to how she approaches her last season of college basketball.
"On our team, we pick a word, and my word is 'devote,'" she said. "I want to devote my last season to Christ for everything he's done for me, my team for helping me get where I am, and all my family and coaches. I will do everything I can to be healthy and give the team everything I've got."
The team faces a challenging schedule this season as it will face some of the nation's best teams. Blanchard is happy to face the stiff competition with a great support system – her teammates, her friends for life.
"What I love about this team is the girls, just the relationships that we have. We just love hanging out with each other on and off the court," Blanchard said. "They are going to be my best friends for life; they're the ones who will be in my wedding. This isn't the end of the road for us this season. We're going to have a lifetime together as friends."
For now, however, there's work to be done on the basketball court for the Bulldogs, led by head coach Kurt Westendorp, whose staff welcomes McCartney, as a new assistant coach, with Scott Carlson, who returns to assist.
The Blanchards have become a Bulldog family. Dyn Blanchard’s younger brother, Gabe, is a 6-foot-5, 255-pound redshirt freshman defensive lineman for the Bulldog football team.
In the D2CCA Tipoff Classic, the Bulldogs will face Pittsburg State on Saturday, Nov. 2, at 2:30 p.m., and Central Missouri on Sunday, Nov. 3, at 2:30 p.m.
The first home game for the women's basketball team is Saturday, Nov. 16, at 7 p.m. against Great Lakes Christian.