If Kelsey Mitchell's Buckeye career were over today, she would be remembered as one of the greatest women's basketball players in program history.
Mitchell's broken over 40 team, conference or national records, sits at ninth on Ohio State's all-time scoring list with 1,762 points, and was a consensus all-american as well as a finalist for every major national player of the year award in 2015.
Those are achievements most players would dream of reaching over the course of an entire college career, but Mitchell's not done yet. In fact, she's only hit the halfway mark in her Buckeye career.
Entering her junior season, Mitchell is on pace to not only shatter the school's all-time scoring record, but set a new national record as well. She's also on pace to break the NCAA all-time three point shooting record as she already holds the NCAA single season record for 3-pointers in a season with 127 her freshman year (she also holds the No. 2 slot on the list with 126 her sophomore year). In addition, she's one of the preseason favorites for every national player of the year award.
Mitchell is really, really good at basketball and will likely leave Ohio State as the best player in program history. But when asked about her career accomplishments and thre records she's on pace to break, she answered modestly, and if you know her, honestly.
"That's never really been me," Mitchell said. "I'm not into things like that, but I respect your question."
Mitchell is just not interested in individual accolades – she wasn't even aware she'd been named the Big Ten Player of the Year last season until reporters came to interview her about it. She is, however, interested getting better.
"I just come on the court and play, then go to school and stuff like that."
"She's so good, but she still works on her game relentlessly," said Ohio State head coach Kevin McGuff.
McGuff said Mitchell is one of the hardest working players he's ever coached, and because of that she never stops improving. This season, McGuff expects to be better where the team needs the most help: on defense.
"She's improved defensively," McGuff said. "That's really one of the biggest adjustments for young people as they transition from high school to college. But she's made improvements defensively and I think you'll see that this year."
She's still getting better, working on her defense as well as her leadership, but when asked if Mitchell was the best player he's ever coached, McGuff wasn't shy in his response.
"Yeah, I would say so at this point," McGuff said. "She's really special. She can really, really play and we're fortune to have her here."
But being the best individually is about the furthest thing from Mitchell's mind.
"Like I said, I'm not really into that," Mitchell said. "I just come on the court and play, then go to school and stuff like that."
