High school basketball regionals, according to Candis Staats, of Nucla, who is a senior and played her last varsity game over the weekend, was “not great.” Her team fell to Eades, losing by less than 10 points, and the guys team also lost to Otis. Though walking off the court and letting go of high school basketball for her was a heartbreaking moment — it’s the thing she’s loved more than pretty much anything — she has something to look forward to.
Last week, Staats signed with Lamar Community College in southeast Colorado and will be playing basketball for them, and she told the Forum she didn’t think it was possible.
“I didn’t really think I would be able to go on and play sports after high school,” she said Sunday. “ I assumed this was it, and there was nothing I could do about it.”
She said her sister Erin and her basketball coaches encouraged her to reach out and look at some schools. And, she did. She emailed Coach Lewis at Lamar and began an online conversation. Then she ended up traveling there to watch a game. Next, coach asked if she wanted to come play for the Lopes, and she said “yes.”
It was that easy.
Staats began playing in elementary school. She compared it to what Montrose West Recreation now calls “Little Dribblers.” She continued through middle school and all of high school, except for one season when she had to move to Nevada for a short time.
“Now I don’t know what I’d do without it,” she said.
For her, being on the court is like “therapy.” When Staats is playing basketball, nothing else matters.
“Something really terrible could be going on, and basketball is a vacation for me,” she said. “It’s a place to get out of my own head.”
Staats wasn’t certain of her latest stats over the weekend, but she does know what she’s good at. That’s getting the ball down low and making a good jump shot. She knows how to jump over everyone and just shoot.
She said Lamar will be good for her regardless. She’s never been anywhere, and hasn’t traveled at all. For her leaving and living more than eight hours away from home sounds exciting.
“It’s an opportunity for me to go alone and become my own person,” she said.
Staats said Lamar is a school that has been successful at getting their players prepared for bigger schools. She said it’s good especially for those like her, coming from a 1A school. But, Staats said even if the next level of sports doesn’t happen for her after Lamar, she’ll be ready to advance for academics anyway.
Her goal is to get a degree in criminal justice and then go to the police academy when she’s 21. She wants to work for a police force.
Staats is grateful for her teammates. She said she grew closer with everyone this year, especially the juniors and seniors with whom she’s played since they were all much younger.
She tried not to cry last weekend when the Mustangs got beat. She said she’s spent more time with those girls than anyone else lately. And, it’s hard to let go of representing Nucla.
But she knows it’s not over for her.
“I just want to thank my sister Erin and my coaches and teammates for pushing me to at least try (for Lamar),” she said. “Without them I didn’t think I could do it. They made me believe I could do it, and now I am given this opportunity.”
