By Kerri Kosten, The Dominion Post
W. Va. — Keyira Golden was pretty young when she started playing basketball.
She remembers watching a relative play and wanted to be like her.
“My oldest cousin, Alicia, played basketball,” Golden said. “She was and has always been someone that I really looked up to.”
A Morgantown native, Golden is a 2017 graduate of Morgantown High School.
She just finished her freshman year at Bethany College, where she continues to play basketball.
She played in 17 games, scoring 1.1 points and grabbing 1.1 rebounds per contest. She shot a perfect 100 percent from 3, and 47.4 percent from the field.
Golden said playing basketball at Bethany is very different than at MHS.
“From the workouts to the games, everything is completely different. College basketball is fast-paced,” she said.
Keyira is not the only Bison basketball player from Morgantown. She gets to play with her best friend, Fallon Nicholson.
“Playing with Fallon helped me transition into college a lot better than I thought it would,” she said. “Being able to play with her in college makes everything easier. I feel like it’s everyone’s dream to go to college with their best friend and I’m so blessed that I got to.”
Golden doesn’t just play basketball. She is also a member of the track team, competing in field events.
“I decided to do both track and basketball because I thought it would be fun,” she said. “I had never thrown before and it has always looked so interesting. I got to meet new people in track and my basketball teammates supported me through my new experience.
“Participating in both basketball and track is an exciting experience. Both teams are very supportive of the other sport and are always there if I need anyone.”
Golden said training and practicing for basketball and track are very different.
“In basketball we all pretty much do the same thing,” she said. “We all have to work together to become a stronger unit everyday. While in track, it’s more of an individual sport. You have to focus what you do and learn your own technique because everyone is different.”
Golden chose to attend Bethany College because of its size.
“I decided to go to Bethany because I love the campus and how small it was,” she said. “I liked the thought of being known by my name instead of just a random number in a big class.”
Bethany is a private, liberal arts college in northern West Virginia.
“I think the thing I like most about attending Bethany is that it’s so small. I know literally everyone on campus, which helps a lot because it’s easier to make study groups or to make friends.”
Golden said Bethany — the city — is much smaller than Morgantown.
“Bethany is very small, in the middle of nowhere. Morgantown is chaotic, everything is close by, and full of people.”
Golden was previously studying pre-physical therapy but decided to change her major to sports medicine.
“At the beginning of the school year I wanted to go into athletic training and the sports medicine track was going to get me closer to that than pre-physical therapy track,” she said.
“Since I’ve changed my major to sports medicine, I’ve decided that I want to be a physician assistant. When I graduate I plan to go into a master program and follow the course out.”
In her spare time, Golden enjoys hanging out with her teammates or her sorority sisters of Alpha Xi Delta.
“We like to get study groups together or just go out and get some food,” she said.
She is the daughter of Amy Golden. She has four brothers and two sisters.