Inspiring Kansas Shot Blockers To Watch

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In one of my reports this week I made reference to Manute Bol, and then yesterday I watched a documentary that mentioned Dikembe Mutombo.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In honor of two of the greatest shot blockers in NBA history here is a look at five Kansas Athletes who altered and blocked opponent shot attempts last season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='349456' first='Marayah' last='Coleman']</strong>, 6'2”, SF, Goddard, ‘25</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>One of the top shot blockers last season was Goddard's Coleman. She averaged 1.7 blocks in 20 games for the Lions. Her defensive skills are well-rounded as she averaged more than one steal per game and grabbed 5.6 defensive rebounds per contest. Coleman is currently ranked No. 16 overall in the class of 2025 by Prep Girls Hoops Kansas.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='431037' first='Hayden' last='Heim']</strong>, 6'3”, PF, St. Marys, ‘25</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Prep Girls Hoops has Heim currently ranked No. 20 in the class of 2025 and has the second-highest ranked power forward. She can force post players to change their shots in the paint. The St. Marys Bears' prospect averaged 2.6 blocks per game. Her junior season stat line also included impressive averages of 17.8 points and 10.3 rebounds per contest. Heim is also a top-tier volleyball prospect currently ranked No. 44 overall by Prep Dig Kansas.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='872345' first='Samantha' last='Klotz']</strong>, 5'9”, PF, Royal Valley, ‘25</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Klotz is a two-sport prospect for the Royal Valley Panthers. She is currently ranked No. 115 overall among her class of 2025 peers. During her junior season, she averaged one block per game in 21 contests. She is a board monster who averaged 10.7 rebounds per game. She is committed to playing volleyball for the Central Missouri Jennies.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='621261' first='Madison' last='Martin']</strong>, 6'2”, PF, Atchison County, ‘26</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Martin was featured in a scouring report back in January on some of the top “glass-cleaners” in Kansas, however, she also is a “block monster” in the paint for the Tigers. In 22 games played she finished her sophomore season with 4.5 shot blocks per game. Martin also scored 8.1 points per game and 8.1 rebounds per contest. Prep Girls Hoops currently has the Atchison County prospect ranked No. 85 overall in the class of 2026 rankings.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1042539' first='Lani' last='Speer']</strong>, 5'11”, F, Dighton, ‘26</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Speer is an unranked talent from Dighton. She had an impressive sophomore season on the defensive end averaging 3.6 blocks in 23 games. She also averaged more than a steal per contest and scored 9.6 points per game. Speer is willing to crash the boards for the Hornets grabbing more than eight rebounds per game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->