Taft College Women’s Basketball Welcomes Former CIF Southern State Player of the Year

TAFT, CA – Cougar Country was able to attract one of the former premier high school basketball players in the State of California.

Kimiko Kennedy, a NCAA Division I transfer from UC Irvine, will be joining the Taft College Women's Basketball team in fall 2025. Kennedy redshirted this past season at UC Irvine and will enter her year at Taft College as a freshman.

The 6'0" guard/forward hails from Los Angeles and came out of high school as a highly recruited player from Lynwood High School. She helped Lynwood advance to the CIF-Southern Section Division I quarterfinals in 2023 and 2024. As a junior, her team went 19-11 winning the Gateway League Championship with a 7-1 record.

With recruiting ties in his hometown of Los Angeles, Taft College Head Women's Basketball Coach Romeo Lagmay, Jr. shared his thoughts on his recent commit, "We are super delighted to have such a high caliber player and person in Kimiko commit to the Black and Gold here in Taft. It's not just her stats that super impress us, but it's the way she plays the game on both ends of the court. If she can continue her style of play from the impact she had in high school, then her presence along with the other profiles of new recruits coming
in will absolutely slide us into another bracket of success."

In her first two years at Lawndale High School, Kennedy was named the CIF-SS Division 4AA Player of the Year as a sophomore. She led the Cardinals to the 2021-22 CIF-Southern Section Championship. She averaged 24.5 points and 8 rebounds a game.

Kennedy expressed her commitment to Taft College, as well, "I truly believe that playing under Coach Romeo's leadership will put me in the best position to grow as a player and
as a person both on and off the court."

Officially, Taft College Women's Basketball has ten new recruits added to the 2025-2026 roster.