Two-time state champion KK Bransford looks to end her high school career 'with a bang'

By Owen Racer | Photos by Ben Jackson

Being named 2021 Ohio Ms. Basketball as a junior was just a steppingstone for KK Bransford, who has had her eyes on bigger prizes since her earliest days on the court. 

Bransford, a senior at Mount Notre Dame in Cincinnati, was selected for the 2022 McDonald's All-American Game, a mile marker in her young career she is “ecstatic” to have reached.

Before her selection, Bransford committed to move from Mount Notre Dame to the University of Notre Dame, where she said her parents are already planning which hotels to stay in for their daughter’s home games. 

“Right when I got there, I felt like it was home,” Bransford said. 

Bransford said having a tight circle and not letting negativity in — because she knows there’s a target on her back — has been crucial to healthily handle the spotlight. 

“I have to remember that it is a game, and it's something that I love,” Bransford said. “It's kind of like a release from every stress that a teenager has.”

A two-time GGCL Player of the Year and state champion, Bransford also guided her 2019 USA U16 National Team to a gold medal, and she looks forward to being an ambassador for women's sports.

“I just hope that I influence people positively as people have influenced me as a young athlete,” Bransford said. 

Despite scoring her 2,000th career point in January at Mount Notre Dame, Bransford said the relationships she's made in high school have been the biggest positive. 

“Yes, college is going to be hard, but I think going to Mount Notre Dame — the challenges that it's given me — has prepared me well for college,” Bransford said. 

Growing up in Cincinnati has led KK to have a deep appreciation for the Queen City, where she does community service at St. Vincent DePaul. 

“I feel like Cincinnati is kind of like my stomping ground,” Bransford said. 

She credits Kelsey Mitchell — who starred at Princeton High School and Ohio State before reaching the WNBA — as a big influence on and off the court. 

Bransford is the frontrunner to secure back-to-back Ohio Ms. Basketball awards after this season. 

“I don’t take it lightly,” Bransford said, acknowledging the high level of competition in Ohio, which is sending two others alongside Bransford to the McDonald's All-American Game, Chance Gray from Winton Woods and Kyla Oldacre from Mason. 

Despite all of her personal accolades, Bransford’s primary focus is on making a deep run in the state tournament, which begins tonight for defending Division 1 champ Mount Notre Dame.

Bransford’s 21-0 Cougars travel to Lakota East High School to face Oak Hills. 

If COVID hadn't canceled the 2020 postseason, Bransford could be going for her fourth state championship this year, but she's focused more on the present than the past.

“I want to end it with a bang,” Bransford said of her high school career.