Godette finds familiarity in Methodist

Havelock senior Kahla Godette saw something familiar in the campus of Methodist University in Fayetteville.

"The people there are a lot like they are here," she said. "They are nice and inviting."

Godette, a shooting guard for the Rams, signed Friday to play basketball for the Monarchs, a NCAA Division III school that plays in the USA South Athletic Conference.

She admitted to being nervous about the commitment, but she said Methodist made her feel comfortable.

"It's a real pretty campus," she said.

She said Methodist women's coach DeeDee Jarman reminded her a lot of current Havelock coach Anna Spear.

"She runs practice the same way, maybe a little more intense," Godette said. "They play the same style of game."

Spear is very familiar with Jarman, who is from Kinston and was once head coach at New Bern High School. Spear formerly coached at North Lenoir.

"We're lifetime friends from the Lenoir County days," Spear said.

Godette shot 34 percent from the 3-point stripe this past season and averaged 9.2 points per game. She hit a career-high six 3-pointers and tallied 22 points in Havelock's victory over Greenville Rose this season.

The Rams finished 20-8 on the season, reaching the second round of the state 3A playoffs.

"Her leadership, and the respect she didn't ask for but her teammates gave to her was tremendous," Spear said of Godette. "Leadership is something players don't get. The coach doesn't give it out. She earned it.

"It will be one of the biggest voids we will have next year."

Godette is the second Havelock girls player to sign with a college this week. On Wednesday, Alyssa Luebs committed to play for Mount Olive College.

Godette's parents, Kelvin Godette and Kristen Godette, were on hand for Friday's signing.

"I couldn't be any better," Kelvin Godette said, expressing his pride in his daughter.

"I appreciate everything in the last four years that Coach Spear and Coach (Tameka) Wiggins have done," Kristen Godette said.

Kahla Godette said she planned to major in sports medicine at Methodist, where the women's basketball team finished the season 15-11 after losing in the quarterfinals of the USA South tournament.

She said her fondest memory of basketball at Havelock High came last year when the two-time all-Coastal Conference performer hit a halfcourt buzzer-beater in overtime to lift the Rams to a victory over D.H. Conley.

She pointed to two reasons for her success on the court.

"I had good people around me," she said. "And, you have to believe you can do it."