While her basketball career with the Mount Gilead Indians has come to an end, Dakota Shipman will be able to continue playing that sport at the next level after signing a letter of intent to compete for Circleville’s Ohio Christian University.
For Shipman, the process of finding the right college did not take particularly long.
“About three or four months,” she said. “This was the first college I visited.”
It didn’t take long to be convinced Ohio Christian University was the place for her to attend.
“Because it feels like home,” she said. “I love the small campus and I felt really welcome when I went down there.”
While playing basketball for the NAIA school, Shipman will major in early childhood education, while also minoring in coaching.
“Mainly being around it the whole time,” said Shipman of her desire to potentially coach down the road. “My dad was a big factor. He thinks I could be a good coach.”
At Ohio Christian, she’ll be looked upon to play at shooting guard, which will be an adjustment. Due to Mount Gilead not having a lot of size, she’s likely spent more time in the paint than on the perimeter while with the Indians.
“It’ll be a harder transition for me,” she said. “Getting my outside shot back will be the biggest thing, but if I work hard in the summer, I can do that.”
She added that her time in the post for MG could be of benefit to her in getting used to the more physical college game.
“I think it’ll help a lot,” she said. “I found myself get stronger this year because it was the first time I played post since middle school.”
Shipman said that one thing that impressed Ohio Christian about her was her hustle.
“My hustle mainly and going for a lot of loose balls,” she said.
Off the court, she’s mainly looking forward to the independence that college will provide.
“Being on my own and getting to experience things on my own,” she said, responding to what aspects of college she was most looking forward to.
She’ll also have a lot of good memories about her team at Mount Gilead.
“Probably my best memories would be around the locker room before games and coach (Gary) Miller hyping us up,” she said. “I’ll miss the team the most. They’ve been around for years and I’m going to miss it a lot.”