Kendall Bess Relishes Role As @RaginCajunsWBB Team Mom

LAFAYETTE – Spend five minutes at one of Louisiana Women's Basketball's practices and you will hear one voice above all the rest always shouting out words of encouragement.

"Great shot JO!" "Keep pushing Ty!" "Come on AC don't stop now!"

When looking around you would quickly see that junior Kendall Bess is the one hollering out encouragement to all of her teammates as the practice rolls along. It is why she has affectionately become known as the "Team Mom."

"For me it's important to be the one on the team that keeps everyone positive and energized throughout practice and in games," said Bess. "I try not to let my teammates slack and I am always there to pick them up and get them going. I always make sure to tell them that I'm here for you and I'm out here fighting for you guys every day."

Bess does not take her role as "Team Mom" lightly, but it's where, the passion and drive to always look out for her teammate both on and off the court, comes from that made Bess the woman she is today.

Growing up in Richmond, Texas, Bess had two younger brothers and one older brother, by only a few years, and the four of them had to face a challenge together that children growing up should never have to face. An abusive mother, who was battling substance abuse.

"It seemed like that whenever my mother would come home she would always be intoxicated in some way or high off of something," said Bess. "And in her intoxicated state, she would take out her aggression on us, over just about anything. But almost right away when the abuse began, I began to step in and take most of the heat that came at my brothers. It really brought out my productive side at a younger age, which I have carried with me throughout my life."

Through those almost everyday battles fought protecting her brothers, Bess began to develop the protective characteristics that would eventually transition onto the playing field and create a player that viewed her teammates as family who she would fight for until the very end.

"When I was younger my actions were more of a survival thing," said Bess. "As I began to really play sports, the protective defensive side I had developed began to show up. And sports motivated me to channel my mamma bear side into something a bit more productive. In a weird way I'm glad I went through everything I did because it made me the person I am today."

Basketball was not Bess' first love, in fact she began with cheerleading at a young age, but when she had the time she picked up the hobby of tap dancing. And when she began to get older, Bess realized that tap dancing was helping her become a better athlete, as she grew her skills on the defensive side of the ball which has become her calling card.

"I got involved with tap dancing because of my brother and my dad, without even realizing that it was going to help with my footwork," said Bess. "As I got older I started getting on speed ladders with my brother and realized how it was helping me in sports. It then developed into a fitness thing for me and it helped me develop great footwork."

Bess' footwork, toughness and protective attitude translated into a defense game that is solid to say the least, and it is what Louisiana head coach Garry Brodhead noticed right away about her. "Kendall really brings a confidence to her game and carries herself well on the court. We really felt that she had the ability to defend anyone on the court," said Brodhead.

"I think to be really good in the defense we player here at Louisiana you must first believe in the defensive process as well as yourself. I feel as though since getting here, Kendall has only grown in her confidence on the defensive side of the ball and that only means good things for us as a team and a defense as a whole."

Brodhead recruited Bess from Tyler Junior College, in Tyler, Texas, where she played a season after spending her freshman year at Morehead State, in Morehead, Kentucky. She was spotted by Assistant Coach Valerie Huizar who also doubles as the Recruiting Coordinator for the Ragin' Cajuns, and right away Bess felt the family atmosphere she was looking for.

"Everything here at Louisiana just felt genuine and all the coaches just put off a genuine vibe and I loved that right away," said Bess. "It's a tight community here in Lafayette and it just feels homey here. It's the first place that I've felt at home and at peace with everything that's going on in my life and I can just play basketball without stressing about life and basketball."

On the court Bess will look out for her teammates because they are her family, but off the court is where she really is the "Team Mom" making sure that her teammates share in the peace she feels every day. Bess carries snacks with her everywhere she goes to make sure that her teammates never go hungry, she truly has an open-door policy ready to receive her teammates for anything they need and of course if things slack on the court she is there to pick them up.

"Kendall is definitely an emotional leader and with that type of leadership comes from a person who really truly cares," said Brodhead. "She just flat out cares about everything and everyone here. I think Kendall's passion and love for her teammates helps give us the makeup of a championship team, because the team that cares about one another is always going to do everything it can for each other."

Bess has found it hard to forgive her mother for the things that herself and brothers had to handle due to her mother's battles with substance abuse, but that does not mean she's angry. In contrast Bess feels almost glad to have had those situations mold her into the woman she has become today.

"God made us each how he wanted to be," said Bess. "So, I feel as those my motherly instincts were always there, but I feel as though me having to protect my brothers at such a young age, really brought that protective side out of me at a younger age. Over the years I think I've learned to forgive my mother for everything she did, because I know that if the things my brothers and I had to deal with did not happen then I would not have been driven to get to where I am now."

- #GEAUXCAJUNS -

Kendall Bess Relishes Role As @RaginCajunsWBB Team Mom

Players Mentioned

Kendall Bess

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