There’s a moment in every great athletes’ lives when you know they are destined for a bright future.
Myrtle Beach senior star Khadijah Sessions’ came in her recreation basketball days, when league officials ruled she could no longer play with the girls.
“My team was winning the championship every year so they told me I had to go play in the boys’ league,” Sessions recalled, noting that the joke was on ultimately them. “So I played with the boys and my team won the championship again.”
With her point made, Sessions moved on to greatness at the next level, starting for the Lady Seahawks as a seventh-grader and helping them to a state title appearance as an eighth-grader.
The 5-foot-7 guard led Myrtle Beach to state championships as a sophomore and junior and hopes to make it a hat trick before she departs to the University of South Carolina in the fall.
Sessions earned the Mammy’s Kitchen Athlete of the Week after leading the Lady Seahawks to the Little Caesers holiday tournament championship in Florence. Those are two of the lesser titles she has claimed in her career.
Off to a 12-2 start, Sessions and the Lady Seahawks are well on her way to another successful campaign. But with the loss off six seniors off last year’s team, Sessions role has changed significantly this season.
“Khadijah has always been an unselfish player, but this year she has to play more selfishly,” Myrtle Beach coach Brian Kiper said. “I hate to put it that way, but we don’t have the number of skilled players we had last year. There are times when she has to carry us.”
Sessions is averaging 27 points per game, but her many talents are often overlooked by her impressive scoring stats. Despite her height, she averages 7.7 rebounds per game. And if not for her offensive firepower, her 3-plus assists and steals per game would make her a great role player.
“We’ve had to move her down inside a lot this year because even though she’s not tall, she can jump and rebound,” Kiper said. “Plus she’s getting double- and triple-teamed so much we put her down low to free up others on the perimeter.”
Sessions’ future is secure with her commitment to USC, but she hopes to take care of some unfinished business before moving to the next level.
“For all the state championships that have been won by Myrtle Beach, none of them ever won three in a row in the same sport (except tennis),” Sessions said. “That’s what we want to do this year.”
