Even after taking her last shot for Bradley Central, senior forward Kimora Fields continues to add to her reputation as one of the Chattanooga area’s top prep basketball players of all time.
A day after her record-setting Bradley Central career closed with a quarterfinal loss on the first day of the TSSAA Class 4A state tournament in Murfreesboro, Fields received uplifting news Friday, when she was named the Tennessee’s girls’ basketball player of the year by Gatorade.
The Bearettes’ all-time leading scorer finished her career with a laundry list of achievements that include three TSSAA state championships, two Tennessee Miss Basketball awards and two state tournament MVP honors. Fields has also won the Jackson-Lacy girls’ basketball award for the area’s top player three years in a row and could win it for a fourth time at the Times Free Press Best of Preps banquet on June 18 at Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Auditorium.
“To win the Gatorade player of the year is such a great feeling, especially after yesterday’s tough loss,” said Fields, who finished her prep career with 3,036 points. “Winning the award actually caught me by surprise, to be honest. I am very blessed and thankful. I have been surrounded and supported by great people who have allowed me to get to where I am today.”
(READ MORE: Kimora Fields becomes Bearettes’ all-time leading scorer in final home game)
She is the first girls’ basketball player from a Chattanooga-area program to win Gatorade’s Tennessee award since East Hamilton’s Madison Hayes in 2020. Two years before that, Bradley Central’s Rhyne Howard was the selection.
Fields put on a show in her final season for the nationally ranked Bearettes — who wound up 32-1 after their quest for a fourth consecutive state title and 10th overall was halted by Thursday’s 52-34 loss to Sevier County — scoring 981 points to finish her prep career with 3,036.
The 6-foot Clemson signee averaged 31.6 points, 8.5 rebounds, 3.3 steals, 2.6 assists and 1.1 blocks in 31 games this season, doing so while averaging 24.9 minutes as she was often not needed late in games by the dominant Bearettes. Fields shot nearly 64% from the field while shooting 31% from 3-point range and 75% at the free-throw line. She blocked 13 shots over her final five contests.
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Bradley Central’s most decorated player scored at least 20 points in 29 games, 30-plus points on 18 occasions and 38 or more nine times. She set a career high with 52 points in a win over Cumberland County.
Fields, ranked by ESPN as the nation’s No. 27 player in the current signing cycle for women’s college basketball, shot 66.5% from the field in her Bearettes career, and her 69.2% success as a sophomore set a TSSAA single-season record.
At Clemson, she will join former University of Tennessee at Chattanooga coach Shawn Poppie’s Tigers, who have won 21 games in just his second season. Those are the most wins for Clemson since the 2000-01 season.
Before then, there could be more awards on the way for Fields, who will join Gatorade’s other state winners in the running for its national girls’ basketball player of the year honor, which will be announced later. Gatorade’s recognition factors in not only athletic success but academics and community involvement, and in addition to carrying a 4.0 GPA in the classroom, Fields is a member of the Bradley Central student council and has volunteered locally with the Salvation Army, according to the press release announcing her state award.
Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com.