PROCTORVILLE — Fairy tales can come true, if you’re young at heart.
Or Kamryn Barnitz.
Much like the song “Young At Heart” sung by the great Frank Sinatra, the Fairland Lady Dragons 5-foot-6 senior guard had a dream to someday play college basketball in Florida.
When that dream seemed to be fading into the thought of “oh well, it was a nice dream while it lasted,” that dream suddenly became a reality.
"Florida has really just always been a dream of mine since as long as I can remember. I never really thought it would happen. I had that dream, but it's hard because it's far away and teams aren't really watching me,” said Barnitz who signed a letter-of-intent to play for the West Florida Argonauts of the NCAA 2 Gulf South Conference.
Malone and Transylvania were among her other top choices. She also considered a school in Tennessee and some NAIA schools.
“So I was really close to actually committing somewhere else in Ohio, and my mom was like let's wait a little bit. And everyone else was committing and I was just nervous,” said Barnitz.
She said that she waited for a couple of weeks and continued praying about the situation. But then fate stepped in as the previous West Virginia Tech assistant coach Ashley Brown who was now at West Florida texted her and asked if she wanted to come to the school.
“And I was just like, oh my gosh yes. This is my dream and so I kinda just had to go,” said Barnitz.
A four-year starter for Fairland who helped the team to the Division 3 Final Four last season, Barnitz is known for her long-range shooting. She averaged 10 points a game last season as she earned all-district honors and is averaging 15.7 points a game this season including 35 percent from behind the arc.
“She’s just an amazingly delightful kid. Just a super leader on and off the floor and her teammates just completely love her,” said Fairland coach Jon Buchanan.
“She’s going to be really missed because of all the things she does not just on the floor but off.”
Buchanan said she has been asked to fill a different role on the team in each of her four years and she has made the adjustments without a complaint.
“She’s really done a good job filling different roles. As a freshman, she was just more of a defender and shooter,” said Buchanan.
“Last year, she took on more of a ball-handling role. This year, she’s ball-handling, shooting, she’s everything this year. Obviously, the numbers show that.”
Barnitz said she has had to change her mental preparation more so than her physical style of play.
“Last year, I could focus — like if it was a big game — on defense and handling the ball and not worry about scoring as much,” said Barnitz.
“This year, I definitely have to have a bigger role. But I’m excited and I like the leadership.”
Basketball has been a game the whole family has played that includes her sister Reece and brother Teran.
“My mom definitely helped me a lot. My brother is 10 years older than me and whenever he was going for football, she really didn’t know all the recruiting stuff and how he would get offers,” Kamryn said of her mother Tracy.
“But over time, especially with social media, she’s helped me a lot.”
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