The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Transfer Duo Embarking On First Season At UAB
11/9/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 9, 2011
By David DeCordova | UAB Athletic Media Relations
Playing for a new team and a new system is always a difficult process to get used to, but for current UAB women's basketball players Kelsie Weynand and Michaelea Kleist, the process is not an unfamiliar one.
Joining a UAB team that is coming off an impressive season, highlighted by a postseason Women's Basketball Invitational championship, can be a little intimidating in itself. But for Weynand, this will be her fourth new basketball team in four years, and for Kleist, this will be her third new team since 2009.
Both players attended a four-year university coming out of high school but decided after a year to join the junior college ranks in hopes of finding a better Division I fit for them down the road.
Kleist wanted another chance because she believed she could be a bigger factor than she felt she was at Eastern Kentucky, where she averaged 5.0 points and 4.4 rebounds as a freshman. She decided on Volunteer State Community College in Tennessee, where she upped her numbers to 11.4 points and 6.9 rebounds per game last season and drew the attention of UAB.
"I just wasn't comfortable in the system ay EKU," Kleist said. " I felt like I could make a bigger impact somewhere else with the things that I wanted to do with my career."
Weynand, who began her career at Columbus State after moving to Georgia for her final year of high school, tried her hand at St. Petersburg Community College in Florida after Columbus State assistant Denisha Davidson was hired as the head coach for the St. Petersburg women's basketball team in 2010. There, Weynand led her team with 13.4 points per game and was an all-region selection.
"When I started to realize things weren't going to go how I had hoped at Columbus State, I started to look at other options." Weynand said. "The assistant coach who recruited me to Columbus State got the head coaching job at St. Petersburg CC. I followed her there knowing that I could get another shot at a D1 scholarship."
Since arriving on campus, teammates Weynand and Kleist have enjoyed getting used to their new environment at UAB.
"I love it down here," said Kleist, who grew up in Mason, Ohio, just outside Cincinnati. "The campus is in the big city with a lot of things to do all around. The big city environment provides entertainment, plus I like the fact it is in the South."
Weynand, from Bartonville, Ill., is also originally a Midwest product and is getting accustomed to her new surroundings.
"I come from a small town in Illinois where everybody knows everybody, and Birmingham is a cool change since it is a bigger city." Weynand said. "I want to get out and explore Birmingham more and see what it really has to offer so I can experience it firsthand."
Weynand said she is excited to be at a university where she can settle in for a couple years. After lots of moving around, she is ready to spend her final two collegiate seasons in the Green & Gold.
"Now that I know I don't have to transfer anymore, I feel settled and ready to play in this much bigger atmosphere," she said.
As Weynand and Kleist begin their new journey with this tight-knit UAB team, they recognize the possibility for a few growing pains. Adjusting to yet another team can be difficult, but it is a challenge they are both prepared for.
"The fact that you have to get to know your players and coaches all over again took me a while at first, but I'm finally starting to settle in." Kleist said. "I feel like that is how it is with any team though, if you have new players introduced into a tight-knit team. You just have to figure out what your role is and what you have to do so that it will benefit everyone else on the team."
Weynand and Kleist will take the floor for their first regular season game as Blazers on Friday when UAB plays at Chattanooga at 7 p.m. ET (6 p.m. CT) in the first round of the Preseason WNIT.
The Blazers' first scheduled home game comes Nov. 25 against Southeast Missouri as part of the UAB Thanksgiving Classic.
