By By Matthew Nascone
Being the first person to accomplish a task can be a great feeling. Escambia Academy's Lori Bonds knows exactly what that feeling is like.
Bonds, a senior at EA, will be playing basketball at the collegiate level next year for the Huntingdon College Hawks. She is the first female basketball player from EA to play in the collegiate ranks.
"Her being the first female basketball player to make the jump should be great for Escambia Academy," Gibson said. "Because once you have that first one, it breaks the door down for other girls."
Bonds said she cannot wait to play at the next level.
"It feels good to know that I will be playing college basketball," Bonds said. "I know it will be exciting."
Bonds will be under the direction of first-year Hawks head coach Scott Phillips. Phillips said Bonds was the first girl he called when he took over as the head women's basketball coach.
"I saw her name and I remembered how she would light us up when I was at Lowndes Academy," he said. "It was her freshman and sophomore years and I told the former EA coach that she was going to be something special."
Gibson acknowledges that Bonds was a great player.
"We are going to miss her presence next year," he said. "But we are excited to see her carry out her dream."
Bonds had offers from the Sewanee: The University of the South and the University of Mobile, but she chose Huntingdon and her parents were happy about her choice.
"I am glad she chose to play basketball and I am glad she picked a school with high academics," Joanne Bonds, Lori's mother said. "We are so very proud of her.
Larry Bonds, Lori's father and EA's head JV girl's basketball coach, said he was also excited for the chance his daughter will have at the next level on and off the court.
In her senior season Bonds scored 546 points and averaged 26 points per game in the 20 games. She hit 48 percent of her attempted field goals and averaged seven rebounds, five assists and five steals per game.
Phillips said one of the reasons he recruited Bonds was for her work ethic and approach to the game.
"She works hard and she will add stability to our program," Phillips said. "And she is coming from a program that knows how to win and succeed, so she will be able to help us. I expect big things from her and I believe she will step in and challenge for a starting position."
Bonds will open her college career in Dallas, Tx. as the Hawks compete in the University of Dallas Tournament Nov. 18.