What Kaemyn Bekemeier's workout partner, Jackie Stiles, said about her signing with Missouri State

When it comes to identifying who is going to be a good Lady Bear, there are few who would know better than Jackie Stiles — the best player in Missouri State history.

So when Stiles trained and worked out with Republic star Kaemyn Bekemeier on numerous occasions throughout the summer, you might trust what she has to say.

"Obviously, the thing that stands out to me is that she's a scorer," Stiles, one of the greatest scorers in women's basketball history, said in a phone interview with the News-Leader. "I love her quick release from 3 and she's a great shooter and it'll also correlate to the next level because she has that quick release and she can get it off. She's also fast and can accelerate and is accurate and she can take it to the rim."

Stiles couldn't be more excited that Bekemeier signed with her alma mater on Wednesday during National Signing Day. The Republic star, who committed to playing for the Lady Bears under previous head coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton, never wavered from her commitment to stay home and sign with Beth Cunningham at Missouri State.

Bekemeier sat with her immediate family in front of what appeared to be 20-plus other family members and close family friends during Republic's signing day event on Wednesday afternoon. She was also surrounded by her basketball and volleyball teammates.

"I love Missouri State for everything that it is and I don't think a coaching staff would've made me go anywhere else," Bekemeier said. "(Coach Cunningham) has been amazing by always having me go up there and always having me hang around the team. Her resume kind of says it all and she just knows her stuff about basketball."

Bekemeier is already on her way to being regarded as the greatest player to wear a Republic uniform if she's not there already. She already owns the school's career scoring record with 1,613 points and will have another season to play with a Lady Tigers team that should be in a position to go on a deep postseason run this year.

Republic head coach Kris Flood stood in front of the crowd and said what made Bekemeier so special was the work she put in after practices and during the offseason.

Part of that off-season work was working out with Stiles in group and individual sessions. Although Bekemeier wasn't alive to watch Stiles lead MSU to the Final Four, the legend is someone the future Lady Bear idolizes.

"I definitely look up to her," Bekemeier said. "We trained for a good few months. We would lift together and stuff and I got to see her work ethic and just kind of what it takes. She taught me how to shoot over super-tall people and how she was able to get around some super-quick people. Just a little bit of everything."

Stiles, whose incredible work ethic has been well-documented, laughed and said Bekemeier was the one out-working her during their training sessions. The Republic star is working on getting stronger for when she joins the Lady Bears and will likely resume training with Stiles once her senior year of high school basketball concludes. Getting a few tips from Stiles on the basketball court could never hurt either.

For Stiles, training and developing young athletes in the Springfield area has become the next chapter of her life after a few assistant coaching stops. She said she couldn't be happier to pass on her knowledge to someone bound for "the best school in America to play women's college basketball."

"It is always in my heart and mind," Stiles said. "It's definitely made me so happy and I'm just thankful to get the opportunity to work with such great athletes from time to time."

Bekemeier has been going to Lady Bears games for as long as she can remember. Her grandparents had season tickets and always had her tag along. On a table of photos of those signing with colleges, Bekemeier had one of her and her cousin, Kenzie Kostas, when Kostas was a player. Now, Kostas is Bekemeier's go-to assistant coach on the Lady Bears' staff whenever she needs anything.

Bekemeier is focused on finishing her Republic career on top before looking to contribute to the proud tradition of the Lady Bears program.

"I'm hoping that once I get there, I just make as big of an impact as I possibly can," Bekemeier said. "I just want to help us have the best record as possible and have people be like 'dang, those Lady Bears are really good' and have more people go to the game."

Bekemeier's workout partner thinks she will do just that and more.

"She's a class act in every way," Stiles said. "She's going to be a great representative for the Lady Bears by the way she carries herself on and off the floor."

Wyatt D. Wheeler is a reporter and columnist with the Springfield News-Leader. You can contact him at 417-371-6987, by email at wwheeler@news-leader.com or Twitter at @WyattWheeler_NL. He's also the co-host of Sports Talk on Jock Radio weekdays from 4-6 p.m.