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Twin Bridges forward Kailee Oliverson feeds Montana-Nevada connection

Posted at 6:38 PM, Jun 06, 2018
and last updated 2018-07-05 15:30:30-04

BILLINGS – Kailee Oliverson is eager to play basketball for the University of Nevada Reno.

But the Twin Bridges native is also eager to confirm Montana players belong with the Wolf Pack.

Among the noticeable storylines in camp this week as Montana’s girls prepare for this weekend’s Midland Roundtable All-Star Basketball Series against Wyoming is the recent connection between Big Sky Country and women’s basketball at Nevada.

Oliverson is the third Montana player recently recruited to the Wolf Pack. MorningRose Tobey joined Nevada a few years ago after leaving Billings West, and Plenty Coups’ Terae Briggs is approaching her senior year at Nevada.

Why the connection? Is word of mouth contributing to the Montana-Nevada pipeline? Oliverson isn’t sure, but she’s grateful nonetheless.

“I think that could’ve happened,” Oliverson said, “because Terae and I play the same position. We’re built the same. So it could’ve been like, they recruited from Montana before, they saw how good of a player she is, and that they could take another chance coming up here.”

Among local schools to recruit Oliverson were the University of Montana and MSU Billings. But she said the fit at Nevada, from academics to the basketball staff, just felt perfect, and she won’t waste any time making the move.

“Yeah, I’m super excited,” Oliverson said. “I actually head down the day after we finish playing. We leave on Sunday, and I’m so excited to go down and play at the college level.”

Oliverson likes working with kids and plans to pursue a major designed toward pediatric nursing.

The Montana-Wyoming Basketball Series tips off Friday night in Sheridan, Wyo., with the girls game at 5:30 p.m. The boys are set to follow at 7:30.

The series shifts back to Rocky Mountain College Saturday night with the same start times.