D3 Week Profile: Kimi Takaoka, Women's Basketball

ORANGE, Calif. – In honor of Division III Week April 8-14, Chapman University is celebrating a handful of its outstanding student-athletes that represent the spirit of Division III athletics at its core. These dedicated students have excelled as Panthers both on the field of competition as well as amongst the elite in the classroom and in the community at large.

KIMI TAKAOKA – Women's Basketball
Academic All-America, All-West Region, All-SCIAC

It wasn't the basketball program that sold junior guard Kimi Takaoka on Chapman when she made her final decision on where to go to school – it was the ability to play basketball and study athletic training that sealed the deal. What Division III Chapman had to offer in terms of major and competitive athletics equaled the perfect fit.

"Chapman was the only school that had this athletic training program," says Takaoka reflecting on her college choice, "and it was one of the only schools where I could play basketball competitively. Even though there is a big time commitment to Division III, it is not as high as Division I and II. I don't think that it would be possible for me to do athletic training and basketball in a higher division."

She hasn't just "done" athletic training and basketball in her first three years with the Panthers…she's owned them. In fact, this year alone she was named to the D3Hoops All-West Region and All-SCIAC teams after leading Chapman with 17.7 points per game and scoring a career-high 35 points in one game.

Meanwhile, she has twice been named to the Capital One Academic All-District VIII team and became just the third women's basketball player in school history to earn Academic All-America honors with a stellar 3.93 cumulative grade-point average in the aforementioned athletic training program.

by Doug Aiken
Sports Information Director

#d3week #whyd3

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