Six years before Camryn Kitchen stood in the Independence High School gymnasium and told 200 friends and family she was going to the University of Virginia, she was a quarterback.
Yes, the quarterback.
“She played flag football and she took it seriously,” her father, Billy Kitchen, said Wednesday. “She played offense, defense, kicking, everything. She just loves to compete.”
She still loves to compete.
Kitchen was part of a group of incredibly talented Union County girls who seemed to excel in every way. One of those girls, Lily Devereaux, became a soccer star at Weddington High School and went on to Mississippi State University.
“We even played soccer together,” said Devereaux, who was there Wednesday to watch her friend commit to the University of Virginia Cavaliers.
“They played for the Charlotte Soccer Academy,” Billy Kitchen said, referring to the elite youth soccer development program.
Cam Kitchen's life changed in the seventh grade when he attended a basketball camp hosted by Independence High School coach Lauren Galvani and Sierra Burdick, a former star player at Butler High School and the University of Tennessee who now plays professionally in Europe.
“I never really liked basketball,” Kitchen said Wednesday.
“She was a lanky seventh-grader, but we quickly realized she could be a very good student,” Galvani said.
The Kitchen family moved to Mint Hill, where Cam Kitchen became a key member of an Independence High School team that went 67-17 over the past three seasons.
Kitchen scored 1,072 points and made 200 3-point field goals in three years, which Galvani said ranks first in Mecklenburg County history.
High school fans likely won't get to see Cam Kitchen play his senior year in an Independence uniform.
Rated as a four-star recruit, Kitchens reclassified as a senior over Memorial Day weekend and committed to graduating this year and attending college in August.
“Cam was really struggling with whether to come back for her senior year,” her mother, Beth, said. “She only needed two more classes to graduate, and the school worked with her to make it happen.”
Beth Kitchen said her daughter had initially planned to return to Independence for next school year.
“But she said, 'This (reclassification) makes the most sense to me,'” her mother said.
One reason is that Galvani, who has worked with her for four years, is moving to Lees-McRae University as head coach of the women's team.
The other reason is… well, the kitchen is ready.
“I feel like it's time to move on,” said Kitchen, who turns 18 in September. “I've always wanted to challenge myself.”
Her decision came about a week after another high school star, Watauga High School's Kate Sears, committed to Virginia Tech. Kitchen and Sears were expected to be some of the best players in North Carolina high school basketball next season.
Sears, who will be completing his senior year at Watauga High School, visited Mint Hill on Wednesday morning and took some shooting practice with Kitchens in the Independence High School gym.
Kitchen narrowed her options down to the University of Illinois, Pennsylvania State University, University of Louisville, Marquette University, Virginia Tech and the University of Virginia.
Her brother, Will, jokingly said he tried to convince her to choose Penn State.
“Then we might go there and watch Big Ten football,” he said with a laugh, then added, “But we're all excited about her choice.”
Kitchens finished her three-year high school career with averages of 14.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.4 steals per game.
