Elyce Knudsen has taken the Division I level by storm.
Knudsen, winner of the Jostens trophy, which honors the top player at the Division III level, an All-America first team member according to WBCA and D3hoops.com, a CCIW Player of the Year and unanimous first team selection, and several time winner of the CCIW Player of the Week award, is one of the most decorated athletes in Millikin’s long history. She holds the record for record for the most points in a season and in a career, along with the best scoring average in Millikin history across a season and a career, and that is just to name a few.
She was Millikin and Division III’s Caitlin Clark.
But the question that was of course raised when she announced she would transfer to Illinois State University for her final year of eligibility– who would she be at the Division I level?
I’m not sure that Knudsen has given that idea a second thought. She just wants to play ball.
“There are a lot of people who do have aspirations of playing at the Division I level,” Knudsen said. “Mine was just wanting the opportunity to play basketball in college. Luckily, with my success at Millikin, I was granted the opportunity to play at this level because it shows that hard work pays off. Everything I put into the game gave me this opportunity.”
After winning too many awards to count at the Division III level, Knudsen’s play earned her Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Week award after averaging 14.6 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 1.0 steals per game early in December, including a 23-point performance against New Mexico State on December 1st.
On the season, she has averaged 13.75 points per game, 1.8 assists, and has shot around 47 percent from beyond the arc. This is extremely impressive, especially considering she missed the first couple of games with a hamstring injury.
It was impossible to talk about Millikin athletics without mentioning Knudsen. Not only was she a prolific scorer, but she was consistently the hardest working athlete on any team she was a part of. When Knudsen transferred to Illinois State, she brought her talent, but she also brought her work ethic, which Illinois State Head Women’s Basketball Coach Kristen Gillespie has appreciated greatly.
“She’s in the gym more than any other player on our team,” Gillespie said. “She has such an innate desire to be the best.”
Competition looks very different at the Division I level, which Knudsen has realized very quickly.
“Obviously, there’s a lot more high level players,” Knudsen said. “Usually, you know the Division III level, you look at one player on a team that they kind of do everything for them. At this level, every player can do something. They bring their own thing to the table.”
Regardless of the competition, Knudsen is up for the challenge. This mentality is what a player must have, especially when making a jump to a higher level of sport.
“That [mentality] has really helped her with this transition,” Gillespie said. “It is a little different, the competition she’s going up against is a little bigger, a little faster, a little stronger. But I think she’s done a great job of not only handling the transition, but also the pressure that has come with it.”
The faster pace of play is one of the main concerns for players making a change like this, but Knudsen’s time at Millikin prepared her for that jump. When thinking of pace of play, she instantly thought of Olivia Lett, her coach during her time at Millikin.
“Luckily, Coach Lett pushed the pace, so it’s a pace I’m used to,” Knudsen said. “Obviously, there are people that are bigger, stronger, faster, but the transition has been pretty smooth, just because I was pushed to another high level at Millikin for Division III, and that I owe all to coach. She expected a lot out of me, and that made this transition a little bit easier.”
Not only does Knudsen appreciate her past coaches and teammates, but she realized very early on that she made the right choice with Illinois State.
“The transition has been smooth,” she said. “The girls have been great, and the staff has been even better, so that made it even more smooth. I’m very grateful.”
Knudsen’s efficiency at the Division I level isn’t surprising, but it is an extremely rare accomplishment to see, and Gillespie understands this.
“It doesn’t happen very often,” Gillespie said. “I can’t think of another female player that has done this. I think the name that sticks with me is Duncan Robinson, who was a Division III player who played at Michigan. Now, he’s playing for the Miami Heat. We’ve had a player who made the jump from Division II but never from Division III. It’s just a testament to Elyce and her work ethic, her competitiveness, her desire to be the best.”
Making a jump from Millikin to Illinois State is much more than a sports change. While Millikin usually enrolls around 2,000 students, Illinois State is home to over 20,000 students. However, Knudsen has yet to notice the “big school” feel.
“It doesn’t seem that big of a difference, because you’re secluded to your own bubble,” she said. “I’m an athlete, and the things that I focus on are school and basketball, and you don’t get that big school feel all the time, especially when you’re in season. Obviously, you’re aware of the fact that you’re going to school with many other people. The sports here are a lot bigger than they were at Millikin. Football is bigger, all that kind of stuff.”
Millikin is clearly a small school, and that left a big impact on Knudsen when she searched for a new home.
“In terms of the transition, it’s been pretty easy because it kind of just still has that small school feel,” she said. “And that’s what I was looking for when I was deciding to make my decision. It’s just being able to feel like I was still in that little bubble, and not letting all the outside stuff put a lot of pressure on me.”
Knudsen has left a huge impact wherever she has played, especially on her teammates. One of these former Millikin teammates is Bailey Coffman, who was thrilled to hear that Knudsen was choosing Illinois State as her new home. Coffman has had lots of experience with Bloomington, as she was an intern at Illinois State before Knudsen’s arrival.
“I did an internship at Illinois State, so I knew a lot about the coach, and my mom is a high school coach in Bloomington, so she knows Coach Gillespie,” Coffman said. “So I saw her when she was recruiting Elyce, and I wanted her to go there, because I love Bloomington. I love getting to watch [Knudsen] play.”
Coffman has had ample opportunity to watch her former teammate compete at the Division I level, even against familiar CCIW competition.
“I went to the first exhibition game against Illinois Wesleyan, which was obviously a rival of ours,” Coffman said. “It was fun to watch her play them. I think in her time at Millikin, she probably played them 12 times. So to play the same team from a different division is pretty cool.”
Knudsen was always a prolific scorer at the Division III level, and she has brought that scoring to the Division I level.
“I also watched her game against Harvard which I believe she had around 20 points,” Coffman said. “I never had a doubt that she would be able to translate her game from Division III to Division I.”
Not only has Coffman been able to witness Knudsen’s arrival, but she has also acted as her personal guide to navigating a new town.
“Elyce and I have met a couple of times for lunch at different places, and we’ve talked about different restaurants to try,” Coffman said. “It’s really nice having her close. Every once in a while she’ll text me and ask, ‘Hey, where should I go for this?’ It’s cool to have that relationship and be in the same town.”
As the season continues, Knudsen will likely add more awards to her list at the Division I level. Success is nothing new to Knudsen, but the way in which she handles success is what has set her apart, no matter what level she is competing at.
“I’m just jealous that you have four years with her,” Gillespie said. “She’s just one of those young people that is an absolute joy to coach. It’s never about her. She is a phenomenal role model. It’s been really fun to see the kids in our community take to her. She’s the type of person that you want representing your program at your university. We’re on the clock with Elyce, and I just wish we had more time with her.”
