By Gary Van Cleave
Special to Hutchpost.com
MOUNDRIDGE - As Kreighton Kanitz signed his basketball letter of intent recently with Barton Community College, he went to his God for His thoughts.
“When signing and deciding on Barton, I spoke to God and everything about it just gave me peace,” the Moundridge Wildcat standout said. “What should probably be a more stressful time in my life deciding and committing, I had complete peace. That type of peace is only from God.”
That reassurance from The Greatest Himself has one of the greats in Moundridge history playing the game he loves for the next two years with the Cougars.
“It’s a true blessing,” said Kanitz, who just two months ago led the Kanitz Kats to a Class 2A state basketball championship. “I get to continue to play the sport that I love. It’s been my goal since I can remember to play college basketball and I get to all thanks to God.”
Barton was the right choice for the 6-foot-2 machine.
“Barton was the right fit because they are a winning program coming off a national championship and they have a great group of guys,” Kanitz said. “I saw it as my best opportunity to push myself and become the best possible version of myself.”
“It’s amazing,” younger brother Kaizer Kanitz said. “Seeing him go to a very good school and fulfill his dreams is awesome to see as a brother.”
“I am so happy for him. He gets to continue to play a game he loves,” his coach but more importantly his Dad Dustan Kanitz said. “He puts in lots of reps to continue to get better, but he absolutely loves being in the gym and weight room.”
The Kanitz Klan and Moundridge basketball seem to be perfect together like hot fudge and vanilla ice cream on a 99-degree Kansas summer day. Or peanut butter meeting old reliable grape jelly for a classic on two slices of bread that could have been raised from a nearby hard red winter wheat field.
It only took one season for the perfect marriage to cement after the five guys plus Mom Brooke family moved from up-the-road McPherson. Coach Kanitz was named the boys basketball coach in his first chance at being a head coach.
It seemed to work out A-OK as Kreighton hoisted his Kats on his broad back and helped bring home the eighth boys state championship in the school’s proud history.
“Kreighton played a huge role on our team,” Zach Dixon said. “He showed up and showed out at all moments which was what we needed. Kreighton made practice and games a lot of fun, overall it was really great having him on our team.”
“Kre was a great teammate and a great leader,” Heath Churchill said. “He always pushed his teammates in practice and made us a lot better.”
The Kanitz Kats ended the 2023-24 season with an 11-game winning streak and capped a 23-3 season with a victory over Goliath-imposter Lyndon in the 2A title game.
Kanitz averaged 17 points per game his senior year.
“It means so much to be able to showcase what I can do. I was just scratching the surface of what I’m capable of my senior year,” he said. “I’m just now figuring out how big these gifts are that God has blessed me with. I’m excited to see just how big God’s plans are for me.”
“Kreighton is an amazing leader as well as amazing player. He plays with energy and is a terrific scorer and defender,” Dustin Kanitz said. “He can score on anyone playing any position and when needed to will guard whoever he needs to. He's very strong and can score from anywhere on the court. Averaging 17 ppg and leading our team through the whole season to the state championship winning it back to back is why he will go down a great in Moundridge history.”
“His confidence continued to grow. He took on the role of being the senior leader of our team,” Coach Kanitz said. “He wasn’t afraid to take and make the big shot our team needed. He also believed in our team. His confidence in his teammates was contagious and made our team unstoppable in our state championship run.”
Kanitz’s spring has him in track where his locomotive approach gaining speed down the runway positions him with the 10th-best triple jump in 2A (41-6).
“He’s a humble guy, he’s good at what he does. Does multiple jumping events which is hard to do in track,” Sedgwick’s Noah Little, 2A’s top triple jumper, said. “Just an all-around good athlete, proven by him going to play basketball at the next level.”
“It feels really good going out at the top. It’s been pretty relaxed going through track season,” Kreighton said. “I’ve been working on parts of my game that I feel I need to improve. I’ve also been fully recovering for the summer.”
A summer that will be capped with a move to Great Bend and his beginning in life as a college basketball player.
“In my eyes Barton is getting a player that is going to work as hard as he possibly can to become the best player and teammate I can be,” Kreighton said. “They are also getting a winner who will never quit.”
“They are getting a great athlete and teammate,” Coach Kanitz said. “He will work to make his team better. He was a tough matchup for teams in high school because of his strength and ability to shoot or get to the rim. Defensively, he takes pride in frustrating his opponents. I am excited to see how his game evolves as he gains experience as a college player.”
After Kreighton made his college decision recently, Dustin had this to say to his oldest of four boys.
“That I was extremely proud of him. What a great opportunity to continue to learn from the game of basketball. A very small percentage of athletes will ever get to experience the opportunity that he has,” 1.0 said.
And Kreighton has this message for Kanitz Kat Nation.
“Thank you for supporting me,” he said. “This town and its supporters are very special and made this an easy transition for me my senior year and gave me memories that I’ll cherish forever.”
He concluded.
“I’m blessed to have been chosen to be here in this community, surrounded by family, playing for my dad and welcomed by everyone. I’m so thankful for God’s perfect plan for my life,” Kreighton said.