Making a splash: Kaylin Randhawa is shining in her first year at USU
In her first season at Utah State, senior guard Kaylin Randhawa has made quite the impression.
The University of Pacific transfer is averaging a team-high 13.9 points per game and has two game-winning shots against Southeastern Louisiana and Arkansas State.
Randhawa’s first winning shot came in the Aggies’ only road win this season. She sunk a corner three to beat Southeastern Louisiana by two. The win was especially meaningful to Randhawa’s coach, Kayla Ard, because it is her alma mater.
“Without that shot, we don’t win that game,” Ard said. “…It was just huge for us to be able to pull that out in front of my family and fans and so many people that I grew up around.”
Her clutch 3’s do not only catch her opposition off guard, but even herself at times.
“Sometimes I shock myself too,” Randhawa said. “The fact that my teammates and coaches believe in me to be able to hit bigger shots and take those shots is really a good feeling. It gives me confidence as well.”
Randhawa, who has sort of reinvented herself this season at USU, entered the transfer portal in 2021 and experienced some recruiting deja vu. Coming out of Pitman High School in California in 2018, Randhawa was sought after by programs all over the west including Denver, where Kayla Ard was a recruiting coordinator. Randhawa was even scheduled to visit Ard at Denver but ended up canceling her visit because her visit to Pacific had gone well, and she ultimately committed to the Tigers.
“In her words, I broke her heart, but it’s okay now because I’m here and this opportunity of me playing for her as a head coach probably wouldn’t have happened if I went to Denver. It’s pretty funny actually. She gives me a hard time about it all the time,” Randhawa said.
She said the decision to leave Pacific was all about what was best for her mental health.
“I talked a lot with my family about it. It wasn’t a place for me anymore in terms of my mental health and overall my happiness. I wasn’t happy over there anymore,” Randhawa said. “I think I wanted a fresh start and that’s what I got. I think me, personally as a student-athlete I do struggle. My family knows. I’ve been pretty open with them, and I seek the help that I need.”
When she decided to leave Pacific after the 2020- 21 season, a familiar face reached out to her. Heading into her second year as head coach at Utah State, Ard built off of their already established relationship to recruit Randhawa to Logan.
“My biggest thing was wanting to go somewhere that I was wanted, and coach K was a big-time recruiter and she made it very clear that I was someone that she wanted in her program,” Randhawa said.
Randhawa developed the skills that made her a division-1 basketball player with her brother, Amarpreet Randhawa, while growing up in California.
“When I got into seventh and eighth grade, it kind of hit me — I was like, ‘I think I want to play this at the next level.’ Lucky for me, I have two older siblings that played and especially my brother. He was my biggest mentor through it all,” Randhawa said.
“Once I kind of told him that my goal was to play at the highest level, at that moment, he was like, ‘alright. Well, we’ve got some work to do.”
Amarpreet ended up playing college basketball for three different NAIA schools and started coaching following his playing career. He is currently an assistant coach of his and Kaylin’s alma mater’s women’s basketball team and serves as an assistant coach at UC Merced. When her brother left home to play college, Randhawa refocused her training efforts to become a D-1 caliber athlete.
“It was no longer like him pushing me to get into the gym. It was me, myself and my own motivation of wanting to get better and be able to excel at the next level,” Randhawa said.
Randhawa’s skills on the court are what brought her to Utah State, but her leadership and personality are what have made an impact on her teammates.
“She’s a really good player for us and she is fun to be around,” teammate Laci Hawthorne said. “She’s a pretty good leader too.”
One of the best ways to see Randhawa’s personality is through her Tik-Tok account. She has racked up over 6,400 followers and nearly 69,000 likes. Hawthorne is often featured on the account doing trending dances with Randhawa.
Randhawa also posts some of her highlights, including the two game-winning 3’s she has hit this season. Offline, Ard admires the veteran leadership that the senior transfer had brought to the program.
LIGHT THE A BLUE!!!!!!!!!#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/u3SNj5whb8
— USU Women’s Hoops (@USUWBasketball) December 9, 2021
“She brings maturity. She brings that toughness and that grittiness that we really need. She doesn’t want to back down to anybody. She doesn’t give up. She doesn’t quit,” Ard said.
With Randhawa, Utah State has already bested their win total last season with plenty of games still on the slate. Ard credits Randhawa’s mentality as one of the catalysts to Utah State’s improvement this year.
“We really needed that for our program and where we were at and where we’re going. She’s been huge for us. We’re really grateful to have her here,” Ard said.
Randhawa will graduate this year, but Ard hopes that she will stick around for next season.
“She does have an additional COVID year if she wants to take it,” Ard said. “I’d love to have her for another year and keep building this thing,” Ard said. If she does, except many more memorable plays in the year to come.