Double Take: Kelsey Kahle

Yes

Nathan Hellman

High above the Stott Center hardwood, names from Portland State’s past adorn the white cement wall. Kim Manifesto. Kristi Smith. Leanne Peters. Lyndon Johnson.

Kelsey Kahle?

No question, just give her a few years.

Kahle is currently 22 points shy of claiming the all-time women’s basketball scoring title here at Portland State, and she still has a dozen games to play in a Vikings uniform.

At her 16.3 points per game clip, do a little quick math and you’ll soon realize Kahle should shatter Laurie Northrop’s record of 1,801 points within a game or two.

But while records are grand, it’s not just the points that make Kahle the best female athlete to ever grace the South Park Blocks.

Forgive me, Manifesto, Smith, Peters, Johnson and, of course, Northrop, but the senior power forward that dons the No. 11 jersey is the best female athlete Portland State has ever seen.

The season before Kahle arrived at Portland State the Vikings had endured one of their worst campaigns ever, going 3-23 under first-year head coach Charity Elliot.

Once Kahle arrived on the scene, the Vikings’ fortunes changed drastically, as she led the team to two straight 12-win seasons and then Portland State’s best record as a Division I squad at 22-9 last year.

There is no question that Kahle altered the culture of women’s basketball at Portland State, and you don’t even have to look at the wins column for verification.

Kahle is modest as a person and her contributions are subtle. At 5-10 and possessing a rather lean build, it is her toughness and passion for the game that allow her to make such a substantial impact both on and off the court.

Easily the most telling mark of her toughness came when she suffered a blow to the face in a game last season, resulting in an ugly shiner under her left eye. Think Kahle missed any time, or changed her style of play? Absolutely not, if anything, she played harder and pounded the paint more fiercely.

Those are the kind of displays that change the competitive fabric of a program, which is why Kahle—even though she will tell you she did nothing of the sort—deserves to be called the best female athlete in Portland State history. 

Don’t get me wrong, all the other Portland State stars of the past were great. And while I never witnessed them live, I have seen Kahle play countless times and I know she is an once-in-a-lifetime kind of player.

Before plans for the Stott Center renovation are finalized, athletic director Torre Chisholm might want to reserve a little space for another banner, complete with a photo and the name “Kelsey Kahle” below it in block letters.

No

Skyler Archibald

“Pistol” Pete Maravich or Michael Jordan?

Dan Marino or Joe Montana?

Alex Rodriguez or Derek Jeter?

In sports, the most distinguishing factor of individual athletes is their postseason success.

While Maravich, Marino and Rodriguez all belong in the discussion of the greatest players in their respected sports, it is Jordan, Montana and Jeter who receive the lion’s share of attention and they get it because they each, in their own way, won.

Although Kelsey Kahle’s career as a Viking has been nothing short of stellar, one shortcoming should undoubtedly keep her from being mentioned in the same breath as the other great female athletes that have graced the South Park Blocks with their athletic prowess: Championships.

With her senior season more than halfway done, Kahle, despite all the remarkable numbers that she has accumulated, has yet to lead the Vikings to the one place where all truly great players lead their teams.

How quickly we forget that in the early ’90s, the Vikings were one of the most dominant programs in the nation.

At that time they played at the Division II level but it’s safe to say that some of those teams were just as good as the squads that have competed in the Big Sky Conference over the last 12 seasons.

During that time the Vikings, then led by Greg Bruce, reached the NCAA Division II Tournament five consecutive years and in 1995 made it all the way to the national championship game before falling to the host school, North Dakota State.

Kristi Smith, whose 1,709-point total was eclipsed by Kahle earlier this season, was part of a team that from 1992 to 1996 played in 17 playoff games, and won 12 of them.

Kahle? Well its safe to say that she has not had those opportunities.

Since Kahle joined the squad in 2005, the team has never even made it to the Big Sky Conference Championship game, a far cry from the glory years of the early ’90s.

Is it all her fault? Probably not.

Kahle has earned brownie points for her toughness and hustle from fans and at least one sportswriter, but ask any Big Sky coach and they will tell you that the Viking they fear the most is not Kahle, but point guard Claire Faucher.

As Kahle’s senior season winds down, her one opportunity to distinguish herself from her predecessors with a trip to the NCAA Tournament draws closer.

Memories of Kahle breaking the all-time scoring record at Portland State and dominating Big Sky opponents will eventually fade like popular textbooks at the campus bookstore.

But a memory of Kahle and her teammates hoisting the Big Sky Conference Championship will undoubtedly last just long enough to cement Kahle’s name as the best ever.

As the cliché goes, “The regular season is for winners, but the postseason is where champions are born.”