From Yuma, Arizona — “the sunniest place on Earth” — senior forward Jamison Kay didn’t always know that he would be a basketball player. Kay started playing basketball at 5 years old with his older brother, but an all-sports approach also introduced him to soccer and baseball.

“I never really focused mainly on basketball until high school, specifically after my freshman and sophomore seasons,” Kay said. “My parents are both tall, so I was like ‘I’m eventually going to grow, so I should probably focus on basketball. There are no 6-foot-5 players in soccer.’”

As Kay’s focus on the sport grew, so did his abilities on the court. Kay initially took his talents to Pima Community College in Tucson, Arizona, and credits his experience in his home state to learning the “physicality of college” and how he would fit into the mix.

“I feel like I got really good from junior college (JUCO),” he said. “If I didn’t go to a JUCO first, I don’t think I would’ve gotten as good over time as I have. Everything is about basketball at JUCO.”

At Pima, Kay played 32 games in the season and averaged 8.4 points per game. He always felt that leaving Arizona would happen eventually, and the focus on basketball at his junior college allowed him to prepare to go to one of the best NCAA Division II conferences in the country. That path would lead to either Texas or California, but head coach Andre Cook knew Kay’s coach at Pima, which allowed them to establish a connection that later turned into a successful partnership.

“I knew he was a winner,” Cook said. “We knew it was going to be a little bit until we got the returns as he got in better shape, worked on his game and got acclimated here, but we all felt like this could be the player we all thought he could be.”

Cook describes Kay as “mature on and off the court.” With the confidence and ability to guide the team even in the toughest of situations, Kay was one of the key actors in turning the team around from a 5-6 season his junior year to later making it to the NCAA South Central Regional Tournament. During the final stretch of the 2024-2025 season, Kay was among the top scorers throughout several games, leading the Hilltoppers to a win in overtime against Texas A&M International University with 20 points and seven rebounds.

Now as a senior, Kay acts as a mentor to the young players on the team. With an 18-year-old point guard on the team, Ryder Bradley, Kay and the rest of the senior players in the starting five try to remind each other to embrace the moment and not take anything for granted.

“I’ve been a part of losing stretches and winning stretches, so hopefully the young guys take lessons on what it takes to win at a high level, how you have to show up every night,” Kay said on what he hopes to teach to the rest of the team.

The statistics don’t lie. Now, after three years on the hilltop, the 6-foot-7 forward has started every game in the 2025-2026 season and averages 13.9 points per game and 6.7 rebounds per game. On Feb. 9 during the Battle of the Saints, Kay reached 1,000 career points and scored 24 points, his career high in a game. 

“It’s an all-out mentality that I’ve been having,” Kay said. “As a senior, you only have a certain amount of games left and then that’s it. As a freshman I probably would’ve never thought of reaching that milestone, I didn’t think I was going to get there ever, so I guess I must be doing something right.”

When looking back at his time on the hilltop, Kay wants to leave behind the legacy of his winning team. With a current 23-5 overall record and sitting at No. 14 in the national DII rankings, Kay hopes to lay a foundation of greatness for those that will come after him.

“He’s everyone’s big brother,” Cook said. “He’s developed into a great leader and a super player. He’s been here three years and you’ve seen the development arc of where he started and where he is now, and it’s just lovely to watch.