Kellermeyer’s ties to Harper coach Smith run deep

When sophomore forward Sarah Kellermeyer stepped onto the Harper College campus for the first time, the transfer student from Loras College in Iowa was not aware that her family’s past would meet her future.

A shortage of playing time in her freshman season at Loras had convinced the Schaumburg alum that she should continue her basketball dreams closer to home.

“The basketball experience (at Loras) wasn’t really what I was expecting,” Kellermeyer said. “I couldn’t see myself playing to my full potential there.”

Kellermeyer saw most of her action with the Loras JV team, which the Duhawks had fielded for the first time because of the number of players in the program.

“It was a pain for me to go through double the work,” Kellermeyer said of a late-season call-up to the varsity after a teammate suffered an injury. While on the varsity, Kellermeyer was used sparingly.

Kellermeyer said she had chosen Loras over North Park partly because she didn’t want to pass up the chance to play with good friend and former Hersey standout Kelly Rogowski.

“The toughest part of leaving Loras was there was such a good group of girls (on the basketball team),” Kellermeyer said.

Knowing what her former Saxons teammate was going through at Loras, Harper sophomore guard Siobhan Cerney exchanged text messages with Kellermeyer, telling her about the Hawks’ program.

“All she had was positive feedback from the program,” Kellermeyer said.

Cerney and Kellermeyer had been playing basketball together since their AAU days with Winning Edge. Their families would often car-pool to games.

Kellermeyer later left Winning Edge to play with the Illinois Hustle, the AAU program where current Michigan State and St. Charles North standout Kelsey Smith was playing.

If that last name rings a bell to Hawks fans, it should. Smith is the daughter of Harper women’s basketball coach Mark Smith.

“It was fun to see these kids playing against each other (in practice),” said Sarah’s mom, Lyn Kellermeyer.

During Sarah Kellermeyer’s senior season with the Hustle, Smith showed interest in Kellermeyer’s basketball future, telling her, “I played football (at Elk Grove) for your grandpa (Don Schnake).”

When Sarah told her mom about the conversation she had with Smith, Lyn Kellermeyer said, “Oh I know him. I was happy because (Mark) was excited about it.”

Lyn Kellermeyer and Smith had graduated from Elk Grove the same year — 1977.

When asked about her days as a student, Lyn Kellermeyer said, “I was quite shy, he hung out with the cool kids.”

Said Smith: “If you played football for Don Schnake, in my eyes he was like playing for Vince Lombardi or ‘Bear’ (legendary Alabama coach Paul) Bryant.”

After leaving Loras, Kellermeyer thought the worst was behind her — but that was not the case.

In June 2010, Schnake passed away.

“I was really close with my grandpa,” said Kellermeyer, who had lost her other grandfather, Paul Kellermeyer, four months earlier on March 13 — her birthday.

“It was really tough,” said Kellermeyer about losing both grandfathers in such a short time.

Grandma Marylan and Don Schnake traveled to watch as many of Sarah’s games as they could from their home in Huntley.

“I am so proud of my father,” Lyn Kellermeyer said of Schnake. “The (Elk Grove football) players totally respected him.”

On Nov. 2, Sarah Kellermeyer took the floor at Judson College, joining her new Harper teammates for the first time.

Three weeks later — on Nov. 30 — Kellermeyer suffered a fractured ankle late in a game against McHenry College, forcing her to miss several games.

“It (getting hurt) was a huge shock,” Kellermeyer said. “It was good for me for that to happen. I knew my play wasn’t up to my expectations.”

Perhaps, Kellermeyer’s fortunes have changed for the better. This week she was named the NJCAA Division III player of the week after scoring 30 or more points in each of her last two games — including a career-high 34 against Milwaukee Area Technical College.

“These last few games she has dominated,” Smith said.

Kellermeyer, who has a 3.0 GPA at Harper, plans to study sports management.

After a brief detour in Iowa, she is back home and wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Now that I’m home, I definitely appreciate my family more,” Kellermeyer said.