‘A special eye’: Kamryn Grant, Africentric basketball focus on another state title run
Sunday, January 21, 2024
By Michael Rich
mrich@cbussports.com
Africentric senior Kamryn Grant, who suffered a torn ACL in the second game of last season and missed the rest of the year, is a key factor for the Nubians this season. Photo: John Hulkenberg
Kamryn Grant is creative by nature. So, when a knee injury sidelined her last season, she found solace taking photos.
Grant has always had a passion for basketball. But the Africentric senior found a new passion behind the lens of a camera.
Grant tore her ACL and meniscus in her right knee, causing her to miss last season with Nubians. So, she started taking photos during games.
Her true passion in photography is fashion, street and landscape photography.
“When it comes to photography, I feel like I have a special eye to certain things,” Grant said. “Photography helped me look at the world differently. (I’m trying to) get a different viewpoint of a scenery that I haven’t seen before. When it comes to basketball, I try to put the two together. When it comes to passing, I just have a different eye than other people.”
Grant takes classes at the Fort Hayes Career Center and plans on pursuing it further this fall at Dayton where she’ll also play basketball.
She’s always been creative – designing hoodies and turning it into a business at one point.
“I do fashion (and) that’s why I’m trying to get into street photography or fashion photography – to put out my creativity and my style,” Grant said. “At one point in time, I was into designing my own hoodies and I had my own logo. It kind of slowed down because it was hard to balance my own business and basketball. That’s where I just picked up photography a little more.”
She injured her knee during the second game of last season, a 50-36 win over Cincinnati Summit Country Day, going up for a routine layup on a fast break.
Africentric’s Kamryn Grant has a keen eye in her photography, including this cityscape. Photo courtesy of Kamryn Grant
“I stole the ball and was going in for a layup and my right leg just hyperextended. My knee went back. I’m guessing my leg slipped or my foot just wasn’t set. It’s something that I do every day.
“When I went down, I knew it was serious because my leg just went numb and it felt like I did a 360(-degree) turn. I got up and tried to walk it off, but I couldn’t walk.”
Even before the play, she had a sense that something was wrong.
“I honestly felt like the month before I tore my ACL, I was already having knee problems,” Grant said. “Something was telling me to slow down or take my time – take care of myself more. I don’t really know how to explain it. I didn’t know I was going to tear my ACL, but there were definitely a few signs. I don’t know if that happens to everybody.”
The rehab process was difficult both mentally and physically.
“I was struggling to keep my head on straight – not doing something that I was so used to doing every day for years,” Grant said. “Just learning how to walk again and doing the simple things. The workouts and all of that was definitely tough. Overall, it’s just staying positive and figuring out a way to push through.”
Taking photos during games last season helped Grant stay a part of the team.
“I just like to capture the moment with pictures,” she said. “When I was hurt, photography was just another thing that helped me keep my self-esteem. It was just remembering who I am in the tough moments.
“When I was down, I took pictures for my team. So, it kind of kept me involved and kept me sane and focused and locked in. Taking pictures was just a good thing for me overall.”
Grant has returned to form for the Nubians, averaging 19.1 points, 8.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.0 blocks per game.
Africentric’s Kamryn Grant (24) drives past Reynoldsburg’s Sanai Jackson during the Nubians’ win at the “Battle in the 614” at Ohio Dominican Dec. 16. Photo: Kevin Rouch
“(Grant) is definitely back in full swing, which is a blessing coming off such a major knee surgery,” said third-year coach Janicia Anderson, a 2006 Africentric graduate, whose team is 12-2 overall and 9-0 in the City League-South Division. “(The injury) was devastating for her and it was devastating for the team. It was really a blow. She had really high goals that she had set.”
Africentric, ranked ninth in Division III, hold a one-game lead in league over Walnut Ridge, which it hosts on Jan. 22.
Getting Grant back was like having another returning starter. Ariel Grace, a 2023 graduate, was the only starter lost in winning its eighth state title tying Cincinnati Mount Notre Dame for the most overall.
“Kamryn has always been a positive person,” senior forward Samairah Thompson said. “She’s always picked her teammates up when we’ve needed her the most. She’s been there when we needed her.”
Thompson, Jeniya Bowers, Natiah Nelson and Ashtan Winfrey all started for the Nubians in the 75-62 win over Doylestown Chippewa in last year’s state final and are back this season.
“We just had the mentality of ‘Next person up,’” Anderson said. “We just banded together for Kam. After her surgery, there was never a day that she missed. Throughout the games, she was telling them what she saw and encouraging them. She was still there even though she couldn’t perform.”
Watching her team win the title was bittersweet for Grant.
“It definitely is something I remember to make me want to work harder,” Grant said. “I was still with them the whole journey – even being hurt. I still cheered them the whole way through.”
Grant has had a strong season in her return. She’s had a double-double in nine games so far this season, including a 70-22 win over Eastmoor Academy on Jan. 16 with a career-high 28 points while adding 10 rebounds.
What’s Grant’s takeaway from the whole experience?
“Taking that year off just helped me better myself in so many ways,” she said. “I feel like now – where I’m at – I’m at my best.”
