Photo via LRSC
Come out to a Lake Region State College game this winter and you’ll see a handful of new faces. It’s the nature of JUCO basketball, with kids moving on every year and new ones coming in hoping to cultivate an opportunity.
For Elizabeth Kisolo, that journey started all the way in Uganda, Africa.
Now entering her sophomore year, she finds herself in the small town of Devils Lake, North Dakota, as one of the newest members of the LRSC women’s basketball team.
“I like Lake Region so far,” Kisolo said. “It’s a nice place, small community, welcoming people beyond just the basketball court. The people within the community are very nice, and I’m fitting in pretty well. So I think I like my time so far here.”
Kisolo said that basketball is a big deal in her home country, with teams for different age categories that fall under the umbrella of the ultimate goal: playing for the Uganda Gazelles national team.
It’s something Kisolo herself is striving for.
“If you ask what life is like back there, it’s a big scoop. If I’m talking in terms of basketball, basketball is a big sport back home,” Kisolo said. “So I hope, one day, maybe I’ll play for the national team.”
While Kisolo was born in Sironko, Uganda, she’d experienced the United States before, with a visit to Boston, Massachusetts, and a year at St. Louis Community College. After a stop at Panola College in Texas for her freshman basketball season, North Dakota is now the fourth U.S. state she’s lived in.
“I don’t know whether I have my favorite state yet,” Kisolo said. “But when you go to a new place, you have to just adapt. And I feel like that’s one of the skill sets I’ve learned through this whole experience of living in different places.”
Kisolo knew she wanted to play in the U.S. to further her basketball development. Her ultimate dream is to play Division I basketball at the University of Texas in El Paso, but she started by reaching out to Chelsea Hudson, the head women’s basketball coach at Panola College, about a potential opportunity there.
“You have to market yourself at the end of the day,” Kisolo said. “When you’re from back there, back home, where you don’t have as much social media visibility as the kids in the U.S. enjoy, you have to go out and do the extra step.”
So she moved to the heat of Texas, playing basketball and living in Carthage, a town of similar size to Devils Lake. Panola, like LRSC, competes in the NJCAA.
The team had an okay season, at 14-16 overall and 7-9 in conference play. But Kisolo’s playing time was limited. She appeared in 10 games, starting only one. She scored a total of 28 points over 82 minutes of play.
“I wanted a better space for growth,” Kisolo said. “A space where I can play and grow, and feel like I’m having a contribution towards the team. And I also want to grow my skill set. I don’t want to be the athlete who didn’t have time while in college. I want to also play. I want to have fun.”
Colden Hutton was hired as the new LRSC women’s basketball coach in May. One of his first moves was reaching out to Kisolo as he began building his team.
And so Kisolo found a home in Devils Lake.
“Oh my, it’s so different,” Kisolo said. “It’s so cold. We are still in October, and by the end of August, I was already so windy and cold. And I was all like, ‘Why? Why does it have to be this cold?’ I recall one night, I felt like walking to Scott, down in charge of our housing, and telling him, ‘Please, switch on whatever you have to switch on so that I can sleep.’”
Kisolo has fit right in with the rest of the players, a tight-knit group of nine that comes from all over. The Royals have Brinly Gregory, a native of Devils Lake, along with four other North Dakotans on the roster. The team also welcomes a newcomer from Australia, Lara Graham.
“At the end of the day, when it’s a team, you have to get along with everyone,” Kisolo said. “We are on the court as one, not as 10 people. You’re working as a team. So at the end of the day, you have to learn to get along with each other, despite of the differences.”
The team values the different experience that Kisolo brings.
“It’s fun having her around,” Hutton said. “She’s not necessarily used to the everyday things of North Dakota and the U.S. and stuff. It’s good to see her viewpoints, not only basketball-wise, but of life, too, and the differences.”
Kisolo is still adapting to Devils Lake, learning to make the most of a small Midwestern town.
“It’s a very small town,” she said. “You have to try and figure out what to do, really, but there is really not much to do. It’s a small town, so you have to be creative in one way or another. Go for school activities, interact with a few people, get to meet other people away from just the basketball circles.”
Back home in Uganda, Kisolo’s family members are supporting her decisions and following her career from afar.
Kisolo believes the move to LRSC is the best option for her. But that doesn’t mean it’s always easy being so far away from home.
“It’s quite hard. Not been quite hard — it’s really hard,” Kisolo said. “You have to be independent. You have to go out and seek growth. And I feel like me coming over here, it’s me seeking growth, and it’s me looking for a better opportunity in life. So my family follows me. The community back home is very supportive. My parents, my sisters, my siblings, everyone — every day, they’re checking on me. ‘How is Liz? How is it going?’”
The family has been through this cycle before, with Kisolo’s time at Panola. But now it’s a whole new adventure for her on the opposite side of the country.
“I had a tough time in Panola, and so it kind of scared them,” Kisolo said. “But when I made this decision, they were proud. They were like, ‘Yeah, we’ll support you, and we’ll always check on you to make sure everything is fine.’”
Kisolo still has the University of Texas in her sights. And, ideally, her time in Devils Lake will help her take that next step.
“I dream, if I make it, thanks to God,” Kisolo said. “And I believe if I stay tuned and do the right thing, I will perform not just for myself, but for the team — and let it be on defense, offensively — I will do just what is right for the team. And I also hope maybe I’ll get the national team call someday. This will be a good foundation for me.”
Kisolo and the rest of the Royals will play their first home game on Friday, Nov. 8, against Minnesota North College — Vermilion at 5 p.m., as part of the Spirit Lake Casino & Resort Classic.
