On Shuler’s list: Loyalty, hard work, perseverance and performance

Kennedie Shuler intends to return to Oregon State for her senior season — “I am planning to stick around and finish what I started” (courtesy Karl Maasdam/OSU sports communications)

CORVALLIS — Kennedie Shuler could just as well have been the next Christine Sinclair as the next Sue Bird.

Oregon State’s decorated junior point guard could have chosen soccer over basketball.

Shuler nearly did as a two-sport star at Gresham’s Barlow High.

She excelled at both sports at Barlow, but when push came to shove, she chose basketball as her path to college.

Good thing for Oregon State. Shuler is the driving force as Scott Rueck’s Beavers chase a repeat of the West Coast Conference championship and NCAA Tournament berth they claimed a year ago.

The 5-10 Shuler was named Ann Meyers Drysdale National Player of the Week by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association after her performance in OSU’s 92-87 overtime victory over Gonzaga Jan. 22 at Gill Coliseum. Shuler collected 17 points, a school-record-tying 10 steals, nine assists, five rebounds and three blocked shots in a 33-minute masterpiece.

“I wasn’t expecting (the national award) at all,” Shuler says modestly in a recent interview at Gill. “I’m just grateful to be in a place to be able to succeed, for the people around me to help me get better every day. Honestly, just a lot of gratitude.”

In addition, Shuler has picked up back-to-back WCC Player of the Week honors. No surprise there.

Over the last seven games, Shuler has been piling up stats as the Beavers (17-6 overall, 9-1 in WCC action) have piled up victories. She has averaged 16.7 points, 6.1 assists, 6.0 rebounds, 4.1 steals and 1.0 blocks during that span.

In last Thursday’s 61-43 win over San Diego, Shuler went for a season-high 24 points on 9-for-15 shooting to go with seven rebounds, three assists and three steals. In Saturday’s 75-53 rout of San Francisco, she totaled 19 points, seven assists, four rebounds and two steals despite sitting out the entire second quarter with two fouls.

“Kennedie is playing great basketball,” Rueck says. “It is inspiring to watch her compete.”

For the season, Shuler leads the team in assists (5.7) and steals (2.2), is tied for first in blocked shots (1.0), second in rebounds (5.2) and minutes played (31.7) and third in scoring (11.9). She is among the WCC’s top 20 in every category — second in assists, tied for second in steals, tied for seventh in blocks, 15th in scoring and 18th in rebounds.

But really, her game isn’t about numbers. Nor does she seem to care that much about them.

“I didn’t realize my stats (against Gonzaga) were like that,” she says. “I was pretty focused on executing Beaver basketball and doing whatever I could to get us the win.”

“ ‘Kenn’ is capable of and willing to do whatever her team needs, as we saw against Gonzaga with 10 steals and three blocks,” Rueck says. “She has that ability to elevate in so many ways.”

Kennedie is the only child born to father Jason Shuler, a realtor, and Stephanie Shuler, a hair stylist. Jason was a football and baseball player at Columbia High School (now Reynolds) and played baseball at Mt. Hood CC. Stephanie was a member of the Milwaukie softball team that tied for a state 3A championship in 1990.

From an early age, their daughter shined at both soccer and basketball.

“She was actually a better soccer player,” her father says.

From sixth grade on, Kennedie’s high school coaches in both sports had the benefit of working with her. Nick Hudson was Kennedie’s physical education teacher for three years at West Orient Middle School. Jay Jacobsen was West Orient’s campus monitor. Kennedie attended basketball and soccer camps that were headed by Hudson and Jacobsen. She also did personal training and got soccer skills lessons from Jacobsen, who ironically coached her eighth-grade team at West Orient. Both coaches are in their ninth year at Barlow.

“Best player I have coached at Barlow,” Hudson says. “She and her (basketball) teammates played together from fourth or fifth grade on. It was a special group. The cool thing with that group (from sixth to eighth grade), the boys couldn’t beat the girls — not just in basketball, but in almost any sport.”

“She was an excellent player, one of the best athletes I have coached in any sport,” Jacobsen says. “I had heard how great an athlete this Kennedie Shuler was. Finally getting to see her and know her and watch her development was something.”

Kennedie was a four-year starter in both sports, though she missed most of her sophomore basketball season with an ankle injury, which occurred late in the soccer season. That proved to be a watershed moment for her future. It was then that she decided basketball would be her sport in college.

“At the time, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to pursue,” she says. “As I was getting back to playing again, it was easier to play basketball. After the ankle surgery, I couldn’t walk, so I would sit in a chair and dribble. During Covid (in 2021), we were playing travel basketball, and soccer wasn’t going on that much. It just felt like my path led me to basketball.”

Shuler came back to play the final few weeks of the condensed basketball season in the spring of 2021. She did not play soccer her junior year, choosing to focus full-time on basketball. She had a change of heart and came back to play soccer for Barlow as a senior.

At Barlow High, Kennedie Shuler was an all-state soccer player (courtesy Jay Jacobsen)

“She led the state in goals, was the conference player of the year and first-team all-state,” Jason Shuler says. “Hindsight, long-term big picture? She would have had a phenomenal future in soccer.”

“I really appreciated her coming back to play soccer her senior year,” Jacobsen says. “She didn’t have to.”

As a freshman, Shuler started alongside several seniors who would go on to play soccer in college.

“That shows you the caliber of player she was as a freshman,” Jacobsen says. “She was impactful, scored lots of goals for us. She was a threat from anywhere on the field.

“Her basketball IQ and skill transferred to the soccer field. The vision she has as a point guard carried over to soccer. She was able to make some amazing passes and set (teammates) up for goals, yet she was explosive and dynamic enough to score goals herself. She was a good finisher around the goal, but I also played her at the attacking position because she was a good distributor. It depended on what we needed that game. She drew two defenders most of the time.”

The Dean of Portland Sports is now on BlueSky.

Jacobsen says he appreciates Kennedie Shuler the person.

“She is a laser-focused kid,” he says. “You can just see the fire in her. She is real confident, but you get to know her and she has a huge heart, a caring person. Mature for her age. She was a real competitor at anything, whether it was academics, trying to be the top person in her class, or to be the best player on the field or the court.”

Before Shuler decided on basketball, Jacobsen helped her with recruitment for soccer. There was considerable interest.

“We had long discussions about what she wanted to do in college,” he says. “She had offers from a lot of schools, including Portland. They called her the first minute on the first day it was legal, at one minute after midnight. It was a hard decision for her and her parents.”

Basketball, however, won out over soccer.

“I respected her decision,” Jacobsen says. “I love Kennedie — not just the athlete she is, but the type of person she is. I was fortunate enough to be part of her journey. She is like family to me.

“I wasn’t angry. I was a little disappointed. She could have gone far in the game (of soccer) — past college. When she came to me at Barlow, she was still on an upward trend in soccer. She practiced mostly basketball and was focused on basketball. But she had such a high ceiling, by the time she hit her senior year, I was like, ‘Oh my God, how good are you going to get?’  I would like to have seen how far soccer could have taken her.

“It just goes to show, being a dual-sport athlete can take you places. She was amazing at both. It can be done. She is proof of that.”

Which sport does Shuler prefer?

“Everybody is always asking that, and I can never really give an answer,” she says with a smile. “Even though I love basketball and appreciate it so much, soccer is probably my true love. It has been my natural sport. I love them both. They are very different, though similar in some ways.”

She nods when I ask if she misses soccer.

“I do miss it,” Shuler says. “Maybe someday I’ll get back out there and play some coed or something.”

Jacobsen says Shuler remains involved with Barlow soccer.

“She likes to give back to the community,” he says. “When she was at Barlow, she would work with younger players. Since then, she has come back to work with kids and help out at soccer camps.”

Shuler says her younger cousin will attend Barlow and probably play soccer for Jacobsen next year.

“She trained with him last summer, and I would go and kick the ball around with her,” she says. “For me, it was good cross-training, a chance to use some different muscles, which was super helpful for basketball to keep me hopefully injury-free.”

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From the time she stepped onto the basketball court as a freshman at Barlow, Shuler made her mark.

“Kennedie is the definition of being a competitor,” Hudson says. “She was such a unique combination of strength and athleticism, especially at the high school level. She came in and made a huge impact her freshman year on both sides of the ball. Early on, she was more disruptive on the defensive side of things. She really developed her offense her junior and senior year.

“There aren’t a whole lot of coaches who get to work with a girl from sixth grade through the end of high school, from about age 11 to 18. Kennedie was nothing but a hard worker, a fun kid, a sweet kid, very dedicated in the classroom and on the court. A special, unique kid.”

The basketball Bruins had their best fortunes during Shuler’s junior year, when they tied with Clackamas for first place in the Mount Hood Conference and lost to Beaverton in the state 6A finals, the best finish ever for the program. They lost in the semifinals during Kennedie’s senior season.

Shuler was first-team All-State and first-team All-State Tournament as a senior. She was co-Player of the Year both her junior and senior season with Jazzy Davidson, a four-time Oregon Gatorade Player of the Year and now a freshman at Southern Cal.

“That is good company,” Hudson says.

Shuler committed to Oregon State prior to her junior season at Barlow. Rueck had seen her play in the same backcourt as Davidson on the Northwest Select team in the summer.

“I saw that ability to be a playmaker,” Rueck says. “I watched her compete against the best and make plays and run the show and lead the team. I saw this elite competitor.

“I knew she had a ways to go offensively, but you can’t teach the innate qualities she had. I saw all these intangibles and was really excited that she chose us. I knew her upside was high.”

Shuler took an unofficial visit to Corvallis the summer before her junior year at Barlow.

“The recruiting process is kind of overwhelming, and for awhile I wasn’t really sure where I wanted to go,” she says. “Everybody said, ‘You will know when you know.’

“When I came on my (unofficial) visit here, I had that feeling. I loved it. The people, the culture — anyone you ask who goes here would say similar things. The coaching staff is amazing. I loved the players. The atmosphere here — there is not a better place to play than Gill. It is so fun to play here. And being an Oregonian, and having my family and extended family in the stands for games, is a gift. I’m super grateful for that.”

“When she signed with OSU, I was hopeful for Kennedie but also knew Oregon State was a big stage,” Hudson says. “They had such a talented group of kids. Her parents really wanted her to be a Beaver, and it turned out that she wanted it, too.”

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Shuler’s introduction to college basketball in 2023-24 was with a powerful, promising Oregon State team that reached the Elite Eight with nary a senior on the roster. Rueck recruited another freshman point guard, Donovan Hunter out of South Medford High, who won the starting job and played well all season. Shuler played in 33 of 35 games that season, averaging 1.6 points and 1.6 assists in 9.8 minutes per game.

“ ‘Dono’ focused on just basketball throughout her upbringing,” Rueck says. “Kennedie was multi-sport and played basketball more along the lines of in the season. That means you are going to have a (longer) learning curve with some of the skills and abilities and confidence that it takes.”

Shuler looks at her freshman season in positive terms.

“I had gone from being one of the best players in high school to college, where everybody is good,” she says. “It was a huge learning opportunity. I got to learn so much from my teammates about college basketball. I got stronger. I used that as a year of growth. It is rare for any player to get to go to the Elite Eight. I am super grateful to have that experience.”

Mostly, Kennedie maintained her patience and kept her nose to the grindstone.

“She was biding her time,” her father says. “That was a very talented group of players. It is tough on your confidence when you are not getting a lot of playing time. She made the best of her moments. Even Coach Rueck would say, either one of them could have played.

“Coming in as a freshman, there is a lot to learn in a complicated system like Coach Rueck’s, especially for a point guard. You have to put your time in with his system. She stuck with it, ground it out, paid her dues. It all worked out.”

After that season, the split-up of the Pac-12 took a heavy toll on Rueck’s roster. The top six scorers hit the transfer portal and departed. Only four players returned along with Susana Yepes, who had redshirted. Shuler was one of the four.

“It is too bad the way it happened, but I didn’t consider leaving,” she says. “I consider myself a pretty loyal person. I like to stick to my word. I was bought in on Oregon State and Oregon State basketball and what we are about. I was excited for the future of this program.

“Plus, Scott is always going to be recruiting great people. I knew I was always going to be taken care of. He has proved that. It has been a great last couple of years. I am super glad I decided to stay.”

Part of the reason for staying, I suggest, is that the opportunity for a starting job, or at least greater playing time, was there.

“That wasn’t the only reason, but yeah, it was a factor,” Shuler concedes. “But I knew I was going to have to step up and get better.”

When I read Shuler’s quote about “loyalty” to Rueck, I can tell he is pleased.

“Beautiful words,” he says. “The other three players were going to be seniors. She had three years to play. She was the one who it might have made sense (to transfer), like others who made that decision felt.

“But she had a sober perspective into it all. She understood … (pause.) I don’t know how to say it. (Another pause.) She understood the opportunity available and appreciated the things that remained here even through the transition. We are all grateful she made the choice she did.”

Shuler’s sophomore season was a success. She started all 35 games, leading the team in minutes played (32.5) and assists (3.7). She averaged 7.9 points and 3.8 rebounds while shooting .424 from the field, .210 from 3-point range and .580 from the free-throw line. She made the WCC All-Academic team, and she proved to be dependable in the clutch, making game-winning shots the final two seconds in wins over Gonzaga, Loyola Marymount and Santa Clara.

Most importantly, she was a key factor as the Beavers won 10 of their final 13 games, claimed the WCC post-season tournament title and reached the NCAA Tournament.

“At the beginning of the season, I had so many new teammates, and maybe as a point guard I was feeling a lot of pressure to lead and make sure everything was going good,” Shuler says. “We were just learning each other and battled through a period of growth. Then toward the end, I found my feet, and the way we ended was so much fun. It was awesome with the five of us who stayed — that was super special. I loved the seniors, and I loved that we were able to have them leave on such a high note.”

Hudson says he was on “pins and needles,” cheering on his former player.

“I am not surprised what she accomplished (as a sophomore) because of how much of a competitor she is, how hard a worker she is,” the Barlow coach says. “With a lot of the talent transferring and a big door opening, I wasn’t surprised at all she stepped into her role and thrived. It has been fun to watch. It has almost been like I am watching a niece.”

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Shuler has hit a new level this season as the team leader and one of the best point guards in the conference.

“She has been fantastic,” senior center Lizzy Williamson says. “She is a great teammate and leader. She does everything for us. We wouldn’t be where we are without her.”

When the Beavers need scoring from Shuler, she senses it and takes the ball to the basket. But she is at her best as a distributor.

“She notices who on the team is doing well and what to look for and who to get the ball to, and then she gets it to them,” Williamson says.

That know-how resulted from a lot of lessons learned.

“Experience, and getting the opportunity to do it every day, has been super valuable for me,” Shuler says. “I have failed a lot and had to learn. I have a huge desire to win. I will do whatever it takes, but I have learned to not put so much pressure on myself. I try to let the game come to me and be the best leader and teammate I can and focus on what I can control.”

Shuler has grown into her role as the Beavers’ most important player.

“What we are seeing now is the natural progression in Kenn’s third year in the program,” Rueck says. “She understands what we are trying to accomplish from a coaching mind. That is where her steals come from. There is an anticipation and an understanding of the game that is so high-level that she is able to control the game so well.

“There is no shortcut to it. It just takes time. When you have a limitless effort level, you are eventually going to get there. If you put your heart and soul on the floor every day, you are going to get there. And she has.”

Jason Shuler has been an interested observer in his daughter’s progression.

“There hasn’t been a whole lot of change in her ability from her freshman year til now,” he says. “It is that freedom and confidence over time. It is more playing without thinking. It is not necessarily about scoring for her. It is about what she can do to help them win — whatever that takes. Coach Rueck has a very set offense. There is a lot to learn. Now she is basically the coach on the floor.

“The key factor with Kennedie is she takes nothing for granted, never takes a play off. Her best asset is she is a two-way player. What makes her stand out is her defensive ability.”

On defense, Shuler does a nice job keeping her body in front of an opposing ball-handler. She is quick and has developed great anticipation to get into passing lanes for steals. And she has 23 blocked shots, tied for the team lead with 6-8 center Nene Sow.

“My game definitely starts with defense,” Shuler says. “I love playing defense. It is a great way to set the tone each game. When the other team can’t score and we are going basket for basket, that allows us to go down on the offensive end and relax a little bit. Defense is something I take a lot of pride in.”

At Oregon State, defense has been Kennedie Shuler’s calling card (courtesy Dominic Cusimano)

Shuler has a quick burst that allows her to get a step on a defender on her way to her patented underhand layup. She also has a nice turnaround step-back jumper from inside the key.

The weakness in Shuler’s game is her 3-point shooting and, to a lesser degree, her foul shooting. She is making 53 percent of her 2-point attempts but is only 3 for 27 from 3-point range this season. Her free throw percentage is .590, though she has made 24 of 31 attempts from the line (78 percent) over the past seven games.

“My 3 is there,” she says. “I knock them down consistently (in practice). If (opponents) are going to let me get to the basket, I am going to do that. We talk about getting to our ‘money game’ and taking shots with the highest percentage. That is what I try to do each game.

“My 3 will come. I just have to be more confident and continue to rep it, and in this offseason, I will definitely do so. With free throws, that is getting better. I had a bit of a funk at the beginning of the season. I am getting back on track.”

How concerned is Rueck about Shuler’s 3-point shot?

“Zero,” he says. “There are lots of ways to win and lots of ways to play. When her 3 comes along, who is going to stop this kid? It’s not far away. Right now, she has figured out she doesn’t need it. There are other things she can do that are more along the lines of her ‘A’ game. She gets to what she is best at, and has been effective with that.”

Truth is, though, defenders are sagging way off Shuler and daring her to shoot from as close in as the free-throw line. She is still often able to get to the basket with her quickness. But making a few shots from the perimeter would keep the defense more honest and open up the middle for both drives and entry passes to the Beaver “bigs.”

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Junior point guard Kennedie Shuler has been the straw that stirs the drink for Oregon State’s WCC championship bid this season (courtesy Karl Maasdam/OSU sports communications)

Shuler has benefitted from the tutelage of Rueck and his coaching staff, which includes Sydney Wiese and Deven Hunter, both starters on Oregon State’s Final Four team of 2016.

“Scott is an amazing teacher,” Shuler says. “I have learned so much about basketball. He is also a great person. I have learned a lot about life in general. I appreciate him. Our relationship has gotten a lot stronger. It has been fun to work with him and scheme different things and put our two brains together.”

“I love that she says that,” Rueck says. “That is all you can ask for from a point guard and a leader. We have always seen things similarly. She is a good fit for me. She has a humility to her. She is coachable. She just wants to learn. She has a strong personality, but she wants to do the right thing. I have never felt an attitude like, ‘What are you talking about? I already know that’ from her. I just feel a growth mindset of, ‘How can we do things a little bit better?’

“She is one of those people who, when you are talking to the group, you can see her nodding out of the corner of your eye. AJ had my back a year ago as the leader of the team. It makes everything stronger when that is the case. As our leader this year, Kennedie has had my back this year, and she knows I have hers. She provides us with strength in lots of ways.”

Shuler compliments OSU assistants Wiese, Hunter, Eric Ely and Jared Vedus — “I love being around great people” — and indicates there has been a special relationship with Wiese, the former All-American and point guard on the ’16 club who played five WNBA seasons.

“At the beginning of the season, Syd and I would work out once or twice a week, get shots up or whatever,” Shuler says. “Now that we are in the thick of the season and traveling every other weekend, and there is a lot going on with school, we have backed off a bit. But she has a lot of great wisdom and experience. Any time she speaks, I am happy to listen.”

Shuler says she has greatly enjoyed her time at Oregon State. She currently lives in a house with four other students, including golfer Kelly Hope and distance runners Cadence Kasprick and Avery Marr.

“The experience I have had has been awesome,” Shuler says. “I have met a lot of amazing people. I love the way the community of Corvallis rallies around sports and having my parents and family close by to support me. It has been a successful journey.”

Will Shuler be back for a senior season in 2026-27?

“I haven’t thought of that at all,” she says. “Right now, I am just worried about winning (this season), to be honest. But yeah, I am planning to stick around here and finish what I started.”

Shuler is a 3.7 student majoring in business administration. She says she would have gotten her undergraduate degree in three years had she not added a minor in sports business. She plans to graduate in the spring of ’27.

“Not sure what I want to do with that yet,” she says. “(The major) is broad and has a lot of opportunity. Hopefully, the people I have met on my journey will help me find something career-wise.”

There will probably be opportunities to play more basketball at the professional level. For now, she is solely intent on getting the Beavers into the postseason.

“We want to win the conference and win the tournament and make it back to the NCAA Tournament,” she says. “But that is game by game for us. We want to continue to get better, and have fun doing it.”

Rueck is glad to have Shuler to pilot the ship.

“What’s it like to coach her? A dream,” he says. “Every parent would hope to have daughter like her. She is an incredible teammate. She is selfless. She is more excited for you than she is for herself. She will invest everything she has for the good of the group. It is never about Kennedie. It is about the team. You couldn’t ask for more than what she brings to our program.”

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