OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - For the 15th time in Johnson County women's basketball history the program as produced a first-team All-American by the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), and the 11th under head coach Ben Conrad.
Sophomore guard Jazzy Klinge, the team's top rebounder and second leading scorer in 2023-24, was one of 10 players selected to the first-team NJCAA D-II All-America team. The Lady Cavaliers also landed sophomore guard Saige Grampsas as a second-team All-American. It marked the 11th time that JCCC has produced two All-Americans in the same season, but just the fourth time with a first-team and second-team selection.
2023-24 NJCAA D-II Women's Basketball All-America Teams
Earlier this season both players were selected as first-team All-Region 6/Plains District and All-Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference (KJCCC) D-II performers. They also were selected to the NJCAA D-II All-Tournament Team.
These two players helped lead JCCC to a perfect regular season mark of 29-0, a No. 1 national ranking and win a conference title. The team went on to win the Region/District Championship and finish as the NJCAA D-II National Runner-up with a record of 34-1, tying the school record for wins in a season. They are also a part of the most successful two-year runs in program history with a record of 67-4 (.944), two conference and district titles, two national tournament berths and a runner-up national finish.
Klinge finished second in scoring and was team's top rebounder averaging 11.6 points and 9.7 rebounds per game. Her 9.7 rebound average and 341 total rebounds led the conference, were 12th most in the NJCAA and rank her ninth on JCCC's season chart. She also led both the conference and NJCAA in field goal accuracy with a new program mark of 62.1 percent. Klinge scored in double figures in 21 games, topped double digits in rebounds 17 times and recorded 10 double-doubles. She was the team's top rebounder in 20 games which ties her for eight on JCCC's season chart.
"The jump Jazzy made between year one and year two were nothing short of amazing," said JCCCC head women's basketball coach Ben Conrad. "She really went to work in the offseason and really gave us that elite player that can put teams in position to make the run we made."
For her career, Klinge connected on 59.6 percent of her field goal attempts, setting a new career standard at JCCC. She also grabbed 561 total rebounds which ranks her 12th all-time. She averaged 8.5 points and 8.0 rebounds over 70 career games. She was the team's top rebounder 30 times over her two season, seventh most all-time.
Grampsas, who also was named WBCA All-America honorable mention, led the team in scoring averaging 13.3 points per and in games scoring in double figures with 25, highlighted by a career 43-point effort in a win over Neosho County on sophomore night. Grampsas set a single game record draining 13 3-point baskets. She would go on to finish the season making 120 total treys which led the conference and NJCAA and set a new standard at Johnson County. She also made 43.2 percent of her attempts which ties for fifth on JCCC's season chart.
"Saige's progression from a role kid to a main cog was crucial in putting us back in the national tournament." Conrad said. "She probably had the most impressive streatch of shot making I've seen in the 25-plus years I've been in this business."
For her career, Grampsas made 156 total 3-pointers and shot 40.6 percent, ranking her fifth all-time in both categories.