Kennedy Townsend: The Path From Small Town Courts to Sokol Success

Far from the familiar streets of Kansas City, Missouri, 16-year-old Kennedy Townsend was in Texas for a tournament, gearing up for her junior season at Park Hill High School in October 2020, when one moment suddenly changed everything. Amid the rhythmic thud of basketballs, the shriek of whistles and the squeak of sneakers on polished wood, a call came through — one Townsend missed at first, only noticing after walking out of the gym. When she called back, the voice on the other end belonged to Creighton women's basketball head coach Jim Flanery.

"It's hard to explain what it feels like when your dreams come true like that, but I remember exactly where I was [and] what we were doing. It was just a crazy, surreal moment," Townsend said.

Before Creighton called with a basketball offer, before she flew 685 miles to compete in the tournament in Texas in 2020, and even before Kansas City became home, playing college basketball didn't seem like a possibility.

Growing up in Seneca, Missouri, a town of fewer than 2,000 people, Townsend lived with her parents, Jenny and Rob, and her brother Drew in a household where sports were part of life — her mother had played basketball at Saint Louis and Pittsburgh State and her father played football at Missouri Southern State.

Jenny and Rob passed on their love of sports to their kids, but Townsend's path was entirely her own. Her parents never pushed her to pursue college athletics, and her mom didn't even coach her.

Instead, Townsend's competitive spirit and internal motivation emerged early on — so much so that her first memory of playing basketball was in kindergarten, where she could be found cradling the ball while curled up on the gym floor, preventing anyone from stealing it.

As she grew older, Townsend moved onto mastering the fundamentals, and her love for the sport blossomed. Still, basketball didn't seem like a path to something bigger. That is, until her family moved to Kansas City when she was in fifth grade.

"I always had aspirations to play [in college] but I feel like you don't really know until you get to high school or eighth grade if that's really possible," she said.

The small-town limits of Seneca also made it difficult to gauge how Townsend's game would translate to a larger arena. Even her parents wondered whether she'd make the varsity team once they moved, she said. After all, there's only so much that Rob — who trained with Townsend at a young age — could do to prepare his daughter for a more competitive atmosphere in a city with a population 237 times larger than her hometown.

Luckily, Townsend had a few more middle school years in Kansas City to develop before varsity tryouts came around. Those middle school years ended up becoming more than just a period of adjustment; they became the years that her mindset about basketball began to change.

At 12 years old, a single conversation with a coach reframed what the sport could mean for her future.

"I was in seventh grade the first time someone told me that [playing in college] was going to be a possibility," Townsend said, recalling the quick interaction she had with an assistant coach after practice with the Missouri Phenom, her team at the time.
Coaches, she said, frequently came in to watch practices, and on this particular day a coach pulled her aside and told her that she had a real shot at playing Division I basketball.

"I just remember being so excited because it was like a dream come true for me … even having someone believe in me and think it was possible was really cool," she said.

After that moment, the Missouri native's commitment to basketball heightened, and in high school — after making the varsity basketball team — she set her sights firmly on playing Division I.

At Park Hill High School, Townsend hit the ground running, and in November of her junior year, just a month after receiving the call from Flanery and the Bluejay basketball staff, she committed to Creighton.

Two years later, the fall of 2022 saw Townsend hang up the trademark red and white of Park Hill for the white and blue of Creighton, stepping onto the floor of D.J. Sokol Arena with all the promise and pressure that come with being a freshman at the next level. There, Townsend joined one of the most accomplished and talented Creighton teams.

"You come in with all these established scorers and it's just really different. You go from being the best player to being at the bottom again, so it's a huge adjustment," Townsend said. "But there are a lot of learning experiences along the way, so that's benefited where I am today."

That adjustment, Townsend said, involved not just fewer minutes but developing the mindset that would carry her through her entire Creighton career.

"The biggest thing is you always have to stay ready. Your playing time can't affect your practice habits, your playing time can't affect your work ethic and you can't be discouraged by the situation you're in," Townsend said. "You can let your freshman year go to waste or you can learn from it."

That readiness soon paid off. Townsend took the floor for the first time in Creighton's first regular season game, a road matchup with South Dakota State University. Those first two minutes on the floor carried weight for the then-freshman in more ways than one.

"[SDSU] was really good and I was nervous for that game … having the opportunity to actually play is a huge honor, especially against a ranked team [and in our] first away game. For Flan to even put me in that situation, I think says a lot about him," Townsend said. "I just took it as a compliment of the trust that I had with him. Looking back at it now, I probably didn't realize how big a deal it was, but it was a big deal."

That first taste of college basketball was merely the beginning. As her freshman season unfolded, Townsend began to grasp the unique culture at Creighton, a truth that hit home following the rivalry matchup with St. John's in 2022.

Before that game, Townsend was struggling to find her rhythm, but her performance against the Red Storm marked a turning point despite the team's loss. Going 4-of-5 from the field, Townsend began to build both her confidence and sense of belonging at the Division I level. Yet the moment that resonated most came after the final buzzer, in the quiet that followed the loss.

"After I played really well against St. John's … I remember [my teammate] Carly Bachelor text me and said, 'Kennedy, I'm super proud of you. That takes a lot to do what you did,'" Townsend said. "Just for her to even be happy for me in that moment, we just lost, and it just took a lot for her to go out of her way and say that."
By the end of her freshman season, Townsend gained a clear understanding of the demands of college basketball and the culture at Creighton. She carried those lessons into her sophomore and junior years. With a better grasp of her role, plenty of offseason reps and growing confidence, she began to find her voice and emerge as a reliable presence off the bench.

Over those two years and 64 games, Townsend not only logged minutes in every contest by her junior year but also racked up 313 points — including a career-high 16 at Kansas State in the 2024-25 season.

"It took me taking a big step in my confidence [to make the big plays and contribute consistently]," she said. "Every year … you know exactly what the coaches are expecting and you just grow every year a little bit more, so I think that played a big role."

Now, entering her fourth and final year at Creighton in 2025, it is no longer the veterans of her first three years leading the way; Townsend has become the one tasked with passing on the wisdom she's learned.
Known previously for leading by example, Townsend has developed a more confident presence in her final season, embracing the pressure that comes with continuing the Creighton standard built by past teams.

"We find it's our responsibility to hold them [the younger players] to a certain standard and carry on the traditions and culture that the seniors before worked so hard to implement," Townsend said. "I know there's not many of us [seniors], but [we're] just making sure that we're on top of things that make Creighton what it is."

For Townsend, this means leaning into what she calls the "positive reinforcement side of leadership," helping younger players refocus on their strengths and confidence instead of dwelling on mistakes.
This strategy doesn't just help guide her teammates, but reflects a lesson Townsend has carried with her throughout her own career: basketball is fun. It might sound simple, but for a student-athlete with high expectations for herself, preserving the joy of the game has always been central to Townsend's mindset.

"You've always got to remember that basketball's fun. It can become stressful at times, playing at a really high level on a big stage, but it's a game and it's designed to be fun," she said. "If you don't play from a sense of joy and genuine excitement, then it's not as fulfilling."

As the 2025-26 regular season tips off, Townsend's final chapter in blue and white is beginning — but her story in basketball is far from finished. After graduation, she plans to chase a professional career overseas while completing her CPA program abroad. Yet before she takes that next step, the senior is taking a moment to appreciate the community that has shaped her most.

"When I first came here, I was more reserved and I've just really come out of my shell in the last couple of years," Townsend said. "A lot of people here have invested in me and they genuinely want the best for me, so I think [with] a combination of my coaches and other players … not only have I gotten more comfortable, but I've become a better person since being here."

Kennedy Townsend: The Path From Small Town Courts to Sokol Success

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Kennedy Townsend

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