Championship mentality: Quincy’s Nicholson helps AAU squad win national title while keeping her focus on improving

QUINCY — All of the windshield time her parents amassed this summer allowed 14-year-old Khloe Nicholson to catch up on two important necessities.

“Sleep and watch TV,” she said.

Specifically, that meant watching Netflix.

“I was a little of everything,” she said. “I liked ‘Cobra Kai.’”

But unlike Daniel LaRusso in “The Karate Kid” — the 1980s movie was the precursor to and inspiration for “Cobra Kai” — Nicholson is anything but an unknown commodity. The Quincy High School freshman basketball standout recently wrapped up her summer EYBL circuit with the Missouri Phenom AAU program by winning the Nike Nationals championship in Chicago.

It helped showcase her budding talent while instilling confidence she can play with the best in the nation in her age bracket.

“On the EYBL circuit, there aren’t any bad players,” Nicholson said. “Even if you come off the bench, you know they’re going to be good. It made me more aggressive and showed I can score when someone is guarding me tight.”

The post-championship reception showed others believe she can play with anyone at any level. Arkansas and Purdue became the latest NCAA Division I programs to extend scholarship offers to the 6-foot-1 Nicholson before she has even suited up for the Blue Devils.

To date, she’s received five D-I offers from schools in the Midwest, but her options should continue to grow.

“I feel like I’m handling (the attention) pretty well,” Nicholson said. “I’m trying to keep my head up and not worrying about the whole thing. I don’t know, you just have to deal with it.”

Besides, there are other pressing matters, like figuring out how to get from class to class when school begins this week.

So last week, QHS sophomore Myley Longcor walked Nicholson through the QHS halls so she could familiarize herself with the layout. The two will team up this winter for what is expected to be a fun-filled prep basketball season as QHS will build around a wealth of talent in its freshman and sophomore classes.

To prepare, Nicholson has been training with Longcor, sophomore forward Jada Brown and junior guard Madelyn Hamby throughout the offseason, all under the watchful eye of Bradley Longcor Jr.

“It’s about getting stronger,” Nicholson said. “A lot of people are stronger than me, so I need to get stronger to compete.”

That will come with maturity, as will the ability to take the recruiting process in stride.

Nicholson began receiving increased attention last summer after stellar performances at some high-profile camps. It led to her first Division I offer coming from the University of Missouri in July of 2023, followed by an offer from the University of Kansas.

“I used to be really, really worried about the recruiting,” Nicholson said. “Now I try not to think about it and just worry about getting better.”

Even so, it’s easy to let doubt creep into your mind.

“Sometimes, I feel like it’s crazy,” Nicholson said. “I feel like if I have a bad game, people will start saying stuff. But I just stay very focused and try to win.”

Playing with the Missouri Phenom helped with that focus. Coached by Greg Logsdon and Andre Bell, the 15U Phenom team won all seven games at the Nike Nationals by an average margin of victory of eight points. In the championship game against MOKAN Elite, Phenom won 55-54 with Nicholson contributing four points and four assists.

“It feels amazing,” Nicholson said. “A lot of people didn’t think we’d win that, so it felt really cool to come out and win that. We played really well. At the beginning of the season, I didn‘t even think I was going to make the team. So to win that title and be a part of it, that’s really neat.”

The experience it provides is even better.

Nicholson said her favorite place they played was Arizona because of the weather and the best part of AAU basketball is “going to different states I’ve never been to. That’s pretty cool. And I get to play against people I don’t normally play against and see a lot of talent.”

She’s clearly part of the talent pool, but she keeps everything happening around her in perspective.

“I don’t think about it a lot,” Nicholson said. “I want to focus on high school basketball and win a championship.”

With the talent QHS has, she sees a future state championship as a real possibility.

“I feel expectations are pretty high,” Nicholson said.

And that’s OK. She has proven she can handle them.

“Just playing basketball is what I love,” Nicholson said. “I want to work to get better at that.”