March 25, 2009

Jeff Fedotin
Special to Rivals High

The girls' basketball Gatorade Player of the Year for the state of Kansas does not live or attend school in the state of Kansas.

No, that is not a paradox.

Taber Spani lives in Lee's Summit, Mo. Spani, who is home-schooled, also studies in the state of Missouri. During the school year, though, she plays with the Metro Academy Mavericks, an Olathe, Kan.-based sports organization for home-schooled children.

Her selection by Gatorade has frustrated some Kansas residents. Complaints flooded in to VarsityKansas.com, the preps blog of The Wichita Eagle, the newspaper that covers the largest city in Kansas.

"People were just appalled that she does not live in Kansas," said Joanna Chadwick, high school sports writer for The Eagle. "My overriding feeling is, man, it sure stinks for a Kansas girl to have a great year."

The Kansas State High School Activities Association (KSHSAA), though, approved Metro. It allowed the organization to compete against Kansas high schools but not go through the state playoff system. During the past season, the Mavericks played mostly Kansas schools. In fact, the Mavericks lost 63-52 to Bishop Miege - the 5A state champions - on Dec. 5.

Bill Bucher, the Metro Academy athletic director, said 75 percent of the girls on the team live in Kansas. The Mavericks often practice at the Johnson County (Kan.) Parks and Recreation's Tomahawk Sports Dome.

For these reasons, Bucher supported Gatorade's decision to choose Spani as the Kansas Player of the Year.

"We've heard that there's been some of that discussion, and it's kind of a ridiculous notion," Bucher said. "It would be even more incongruent to say that she's the Missouri player. It would make no sense at all. ? No one can deny that she's the best athlete in Kansas or Missouri."

Spani's athleticism and competitiveness should come as no surprise. Her father, Gary, is a former NFL linebacker who holds the all-time record in tackles for the Kansas City Chiefs. Her mother, Stacey, is the daughter of Frosty Westering, who won three NAIA titles and one Division III title as football coach at Pacific Lutheran University. Gary and Stacey serve as Metro basketball coaches. The Spani family did not respond to phone calls or emails for this story.

Everyone agrees that Spani, who will play at Tennessee next year, has the character and talent for this honor. A religious and family oriented girl, the 6-foot-1 guard with excellent shooting and ball-handling abilities ranks 14th overall on the RivalsHigh Top 50 for the class of 2009.

Spani impressed Lee Keller, who coached Goddard High to the Kansas 6A state tournament during the past two years and watched Spani play at the End of the Oregon Trail tournament in Portland.

"You'd like to see [the award] go to somebody that's a representative of a state school," Keller said. "But I personally have seen her play and know she's a very, very talented player and is very, very deserving."

However, neither The Eagle nor The Topeka Capital-Journal included Spani on their all-state girls basketball teams. To help determine those teams, both newspapers sent ballots to every coach in the state, asking coaches to nominate a player they have coached or seen.

Although The Eagle did not receive one coaching nomination for Spani in four years, about four out of 350 coaches mentioned Spani to The Capital-Journal for the 2008-9 squad.

"We did have a discussion about how we have handled players who played for a home school type of team," said Brent Maycock, state and area preps sports writer for The Capital-Journal. "We weren't sure that that's a can of worms we really wanted to open."

The geography of the Kansas-Missouri border further complicates the matter. Spani lives, attends school and plays basketball in Greater Kansas City, a metroplex that spans Kansas and Missouri. A prominent street in the city, State Line Road, is appropriately named. Many Kansas Citians work or go to school in Missouri and live in Kansas or vice versa. Kansas City, Mo.-based football powerhouse Rockhurst typically features many players on the team who live in Kansas.

"It's the fact that we happen to live on the state line that this whole issue comes up," Bucher said. "I don't know why there would be a disagreement other than those that perhaps wish that is was someone from their area."

Coincidentally, this controversy occurs during a year in which Kansas, a state not known for its high school basketball, has a stable of skilled girls players. Derby's Joanna McFarland averaged about 27 points and 11 rebounds. The Oklahoma-bound center possesses a strong inside game and good handle.

Three talented players, Shawnee Mission West's Heather Howard, Washburn Rural's LaSharra Riley and Goddard's Lindsey Keller, will attend Oklahoma State next year. A power forward/center, the 6-2 Keller is Lee's daughter. Tiffany Bias, a speedy junior guard at Andover Central who also will play at Oklahoma State, may be the best of them all.

"We not only have a loaded bunch of girls this year," said Bob Hovey, publisher of HovPenSports.com, Rivals.com's Kansas high school site, "we have a loaded bunch of girls coming up in the future."

In the future, award selection committees may be wise to create a rule on how to classify home-schooled children. Spani has three athletic, younger sisters - Tanis, Sajel and Taris - who could position themselves for honors. Other athletes at Metro and similar organizations could earn commendation.

"I'd like to see some kind of a precedent set," Keller said. "[Home schooling] has really blossomed into something big. A lot more people are keeping their kids at home."

With an increasing number of parents seeking to incorporate religion into education and avoid the potentially negative peer influences of public schools, home schooling has become a trend. "The New York Times" estimated that 2 million children participate in home schooling, and Keller has cousins who are home-schooled and play competitive basketball.

Whether this home-schooled girl should have been named Kansas Player of the Year may be up for debate. However, no one on either side of the issue questions Spani's talent.

"Taber's a great player. There's no doubt about," Hovey said. "We would just prefer she be named on the Missouri side."

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