Shalin Spani, daughter of K-State and Kansas City Chiefs football great Gary Spani, signs to play basketball for Coach Deb Patterson and the K-State Wildcats in the 2007 season.

Spani, a 5’11” top guard from the Midwest, was heavily recruited throughout the country but made a decision early on that staying close to home was going to seriously weigh into her final decision. She home schools and plays high school basketball for Metro Academy which is a private academy team out of the Kansas City area. Early on Spani ruled out top schools recruiting her from the Big East, ACC, and Pac 10. Her final short list consisted of teams from the BIG 12, BIG 10 and the SEC that included Kansas State, Vanderbilt, Nebraska, Illinois, as well as, Missouri and Missouri State. She verbally committed to Coach Patterson in June upon attending their Elite camp. “After having an opportunity to experience the whole K-State program,” Spani said, “I saw myself playing for no one else in the country, and it is because of Coach Patterson and her staff that I want to be a Wildcat.”

Shalin's dad, Gary Spani, who was K-State's first consensus All-America in football, the only player to be inducted from the school into the prestigious College Football Hall of Fame, and who also is a Kansas City Chiefs Hall of Famer completely supports her decision, “Of course I'm excited that Shalin is continuing the K-State tradition in our family, but more importantly, I'm excited she will get the opportunity to be coached by Coach Patterson and her staff. They have a strong and established program and one that we believe in.”

Spani’s national recruiting interests came predominately from playing on the AAU circuit for many years. They traveled many summers throughout the country to national championships, Junior Olympics, and sponsored invitational tournaments. She is a McDonald’s High School All-American nominee, a Street and Smith’s High School All-American Honorable Mention, Miss Basketball Showcase All-American and a Blue-Star All-Star. She has also been the AAU Missouri Valley player of the year.  

Her high school team at Metro Academy finished their 2005-2006 season 34-5. They were crowned national champions at the NCHBC Championships in Oklahoma City this past March playing in front of a crowd of over 6,000. She has been a three-time All-American of the national home school tournament and was named the Most Valuable Player of the national tournament this past year. Considered as an “Approved School” in Kansas, Metro Academy can play a full public school schedule throughout their season but do not compete in the final Kansas state tournament. They culminate their season by competing in a national championship in Oklahoma City against over 40 home-schooled private teams from all over the country.