After making an impact in Clarkston, Kira Karlstrom headed for Philadelphia to play college basketball for Drexel. Her next voyage will take a bit longer. Karlstrom inked a deal to play for the Romanian national team, Cluj Napoca, in June.
Karlstrom, a 2003 Clarkston High School graduate, was introduced to the idea by a Drexel teammate who is also playing in Romania. She is set to leave this week to condition and run in the mountains. The team’s regular season runs from October through May, but Karlstrom plans to use her time to play in the summer session and get used to the culture and language prior to the start of the season. Other than a family reunion held in Sweden in 2001, Karlstrom hasn’t seen much of Europe.
‘I’m really excited for the culture and the differences,? Karlstrom said.
‘I’m really going to miss my family and my friends.?
At Drexel, Karlstrom took over starting point guard duties after the team’s original starter was hurt early in the 2004-?05 season. The 5-foot 4-inch guard has always been a strict defender and hard worker.
‘She was a very good defender and she really attacked the basket and got to the free throw line,? former Clarkston girls basketball coach Ann Lowney said.
‘She was a smaller girl, but she could defend anybody because she was so athletic,’Lowney said. ‘She was a gym rat ? you don’t see a lot of kids like that anymore. She knew she wanted to play basketball and she wanted to get a scholarship, that was always her dream.?
Her dedication to the Clarkston program led her to become the Wolves? team manager as a sixth-grader.
‘I used to go and play in the gym because I really wanted to play varsity as a freshman and (Lowney) really took me under her wing. She let me hang out with her and help her with everything,? Karlstrom said.
‘She told me if I helped her with her wedding invitations and cleaned her house, then she would give me my first Clarkston basketball sweatshirt and that was the coolest thing ever, I was so excited,? Karlstrom said. ‘I really looked up to the girls when I was in the sixth and seventh grade.?
In her final two seasons in 2001-?02, Karlstrom helped the Wolves to Oakland Activities Association titles, a 20-4 conference record her senior year and a berth in the regional finals. At Drexel, Karlstrom was named Colonial Athletic Association All Academic team selection all four years. She also won the Steve Sher Academic Award and was voted most improved player in her sophomore season, 2004-?05.
This season as a senior, Karlstrom averaged 5.3 points per game and led all guards in the nation with 5.6 rebounds per game.
Karlstrom, 22, graduated Drexel this spring with a 3.4 GPA and a degree in graphic design. As a college student, Karlstrom founded Next Level Marketing and Design with a friend, from which she resigned to concentrate on basketball and schoolwork. She got her craving to be an animator at a young age, drawing cartoons.
‘I was always into that and I used to try and sell them to my friends and neighbors or my best friend. I was always trying to make money when I was little,? Karlstrom recalled.
Her initial scholarship offer came from Niagara University, but the school didn’t offer graphic design area she wanted to study.
‘I went to (Oakland Technical Center) here, so I knew what I wanted to do. (Drexel) had one of the top-ranked graphic design programs without actual art school,? she said.