Goode & Fair: Knights female athletes will continue playing in college

Glendale - The party wasn't as large as it was last year in the Nicolet High School Community Room when four highly regarded female athletes signed collegiate scholarship tenders.

But still, it was a happy day Nov. 10 when Knights volleyball player Krystalyn Goode and basketball star Brittney Fair both made commitments to their futures.

Goode, an all-state middle blocker for the North Shore Conference co-champion Nicolet volleyball team, will be going home as she signed a NCAA Division I letter of intent to the University of Michigan where her family is originally from.

Meanwhile, Fair, the killer three-point threat on the state championship girls basketball team from last winter, will join her former hoops teammate Gabby Bronson at Division II Wisconsin-Parkside.

The two, who both had full-scale photo mock-ups of themselves with their future school's logos standing on nearby easels, both were appreciative of their good fortune.

"I'll keep this short," chuckled Fair, who went first. "I never thought that I'd be in this position. It's an honor to be up here and to honor Nicolet. Last year, we had (two-time NOW Player of the Year ) Ashley (Green) and a whole bunch of others, and now here I am with Krystalyn. Wow!

"… I did this yesterday for my AAU team but to do it here back at Nicolet is amazing," Fair said. "To have had the chance to represent this school, this community, this team for the last three years has been nothing but an honor.

"Thanks for everything."

Green, who was playing for UW-Milwaukee that weekend against Wisconsin, was in attendance at the event. More than 50 Nicolet supporters came out to watch her compete in a 68-51 loss to the Badgers.

"Parkside is going to be such a perfect fit for Brittney," Nicolet coach Corey Wolf said. "That program has just gotten better and better each year. They even made the Sweet 16 in DII last year. It's going to be intense. It's going to be hard, but Brittney is a great athlete. It's just hard to find a weakness in her game."

For Goode, her comments were even tidier and more to the point than Fair's.

"It's a privilege to have been part of the Nicolet community these last four years," she said. 'I've made some great memories and have had some great teammates and coaches. I know a part of me will always be here at Nicolet and that Nicolet will always be a part of me wherever I go."

Coach Dann Jacobson is happy for Goode and her choice of Michigan.

"It'll work out for her there," he said. "She's lived there. She's gone to their camps. It'll be a nice homecoming for her. It's a top 20 program and I think they're lucky to have her."