Kai Schexnayder headed to Iowa's William Penn

After all the hard work he had put in through the years to play basketball on the collegiate level, Patterson High basketball standout Kai Schexnayder was left wondering what would happen following his senior year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
While he got to finish his season, which he earned District 9-3A All-District Most Valuable Player honors and was a second-team Class 3A All-State selection, he was left wondering what his options would be.
“At the time, I didn’t even know that I was going to be playing ball,” he said Thursday.
While Centenary College was interested in him, Schexnayder said that financially, attending the private Shreveport college was not a good option.
He said he sent his highlight tape to various colleges, and he heard back from William Penn University, an NAIA school in Iowa, who was interested.
“They took a chance on me, and I got that opportunity to go and play,” said Schexnayder, who recently announced his plans to continue his education and basketball career at the school.
Schexnayder finished his senior season with per-game averages of 24 points, six assists and eight rebounds.
In four years at Patterson High, he earned honorable mention Class 3A All-State honors as a sophomore and senior. He also was District 8-3A Most Valuable Player as a sophomore and earned first-team All-District 8-3A honors as a junior.
“Kai’s a hard worker,” said Edwin Colbert, who was Schexnayder’s coach his senior season. “He comes in. He leads by example. He’s a great role model for the younger kids.”
Colbert, who also played collegiately and some professional basketball, said he can see Schexnayder doing well at William Penn.
“I see him excelling, especially under this program, because it’s his style of basketball that they play, so they’re up-tempo style,” Colbert said. “They run-and-gun. They like to shoot, fast-paced, and Kai’s a fast learner.”
In his preparation for college, Schexnayder said he has been working on his conditioning with lots of running and also strength training.
“I know that I have to come in and show them that I’m ready to go,” he said.