STATESBORO - Georgia Southern women's basketball forward McKenna Eddings has probably had the most-traveled journey to Statesboro of the five senior Eagles, but her crafts on and off the court point to a very bright future.

For as long as McKenna - whose goes by the nickname is Ken - can remember, she has had a basketball in her hand. "I remember my mom working on base at Fort Monroe, I was playing basketball. I was always outside, day in and day out. It would be dark outside, and I'm just shooting."

She tried other sports, including soccer and one season of running track while in high school, but Ken would always come back to basketball, which led her to a very successful high school career.

"We moved to Williamsburg and I played at Lafayette high school for two seasons," Ken says. "I ended up moving to another school for my senior season, Warhill, where I graduated from. I did really good there, we went 18-4 and won the district. I was doing everything, all over the boards."

She averaged 14.8 points, 12.6 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 6.2 steals and 2.5 blocks in that season at Warhill, which earned her a scholarship to Stetson University in Deland, Fla. as an early enrollee.

"I went to Stetson for my freshman year," Ken says. "I was 17 years old, and after I got there in the Spring, I didn't play as much. It was a really different experience, especially with COVID going on."

After her semester at Stetson would be when Ken would first have the opportunity to play for coach Hana Haden, at Moberly Area CC in Missouri. "Coach Nash [Shanasa Sanders, assistant coach at Stetson] knew Coach Hana and put me on to her. I had to do some extra clases, and then was able to play at Moberly."

Ken also played with current Eagle and fellow senior Indya Green at Moberly during the 2021-22 season, helping the team advance to the NJCAA National tournament. But her second season at Moberly was even better, as she earned NJCAA All-American honors, averaging 16.2 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 3.4 steals per game. 

"My second year was my best for sure," Ken says. "We played Barton CC, won in double overtime, but had to play the number one team right after that [South Georgia Tech]. We only lost by five, but it was a good experience."

The success at Moberly led Ken to a lot of offers from Division I schools. Eventually, she chose to go to Auburn, where the SEC experience was a very different one. "I met a lot of people and ended up going to a lot of different places," Ken says. "I was able to go overseas for the first time. We went to Paris, Nice and Switzerland. We were there for 10 days, playing different national teams."

She played in 30 games for the Tigers that season, averaging 4.7 points per game, that also included a season-high 15 points against No. 5 LSU in the SEC Tournament Quarterfinals. But after the season, word reached her that Coach Haden was going to take the Georgia Southern head coaching job, which made her decision to rejoin her old coach a natural one.

Quite the bit of travel for Ken over the years since she left Williamsburg, but one thing that you'll see in her hands whenever she is on the road or with any free time are a set of crochet hooks.

"I've been doing it since I was a little kid, honestly," Ken says. "My mother taught me when I was really young, like six or seven. She taught us a whole bunch of things, but that was the one that I latched onto."

The crocheting has turned into a way for her to make some extra money, with the popularity of some of her creations surprising her. "I have so many orders at one time," Ken says. "I posted something about one two days ago and, within ten minutes, I had three orders. It's really good. I love doing it and I love seeing the reactions when I show what I've done."

Ken is currently on track to graduate in the Summer of 2025 from Georgia Southern with her bachelor's degree in interdiscipinary studies, but she knows her basketball journey is not done yet.

"I most definitely want to play overseas," she says. "It doesn't matter where, I just want to hoop, for as long as I can. And afterwards, I want to stay in basketball - I want to coach, and wherever that leads me, I know that I just want to make a difference in women's basketball and build a legacy off that."