After a three-year hiatus from basketball, Colorado-Colorado Springs’ Kallie Jiblits is back to the stellar play that made her a standout athlete in high school. The 5-foot-11 junior walk-on from Elizabeth had her first double-double (11 points and 11 rebounds) for the Mountain Lions in a win over Oklahoma Panhandle State on Jan. 2. It was Jiblits’ first start in her short collegiate basketball career.

Her second is likely to come Friday when UCCS hosts Fort Lewis’ women and men at 6 and 8 p.m., respectively, in the first games at the new UCCS Events Center, located near the former Lions Den gym.

Three years ago, Jiblits may not have been surprised to be a starter for the Mountain Lions, but the sport might have shocked her — she was recruited by UCCS as a volleyball player.

A medial collateral ligament injury her senior year in high school changed her course, along with her vertical jump — a key aspect in volleyball.

She left her volleyball-playing career after her redshirt freshman season and made the transition from player to coach, coaching the Palmer freshman volleyball team last season and trying to help prepare Lewis-Palmer freshmen and sophomore volleyball players this season.

Encouragement from UCCS center-forward Mallory Lowe prompted Jiblits to try out for the basketball team, where she is technically a freshman in terms of eligibility.

“If not for her, I would’ve been (too) scared,” Jiblits said.

Coach Stephen Kirkham was happy with what he saw.

“She’d obviously been well coached and had good shooting form,” Kirkham said. Those skills, combined with her height, moved Kirkham to give her a shot.

In the 10 games Jiblits has played for the 4-7 Mountain Lions, Kirkham has seen the rust wear off.

“She’s getting back to where she was (in high school),” Kirkham said. “She’s getting her aggressiveness back, her toughness.”

With her performance Jan. 2, Jiblits can look forward to starting more often.

“I just want to keep working hard,” Jiblits said of the rest of her collegiate career. “Take it day by day and improve my skills over time and become a better player and person through it.”

MARTIN S. MENDIOLA Photo by