Kea Whittington

Women's Basketball

One of the best all-around players to step on the Kehl Center court, Kea Whittington has been inducted into the Clarke University Athletics Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2025.

Currently ninth on the all-time scoring list for Clarke women’s basketball, Whittington’s exact 1,400 points scored in her career placed the Beloit, Wis. native in sixth on the CU women’s basketball scoring list during her career that spanned from 2014 to 2018 as she earned the Ed Colbert Career Achievement Award following her senior season of 2017-18.

Whittington earned a conference individual honor in three of her four seasons, being named the MCC Newcomer of the Year as a freshman in 2014-15 where she averaged eight points, two rebounds, two assists, and 1.4 steals per game, then earned back-to-back Heart of America Defensive Player of the Year honors as a junior in 2016-17 and as a senior 2017-18 as she produced three of the top four steals seasons in school history with a program-best 125 as a junior in 20216-17 a year after previously setting the season mark of 105 as a sophomore in 2015-16, then her “down year” of 78 as a senior in 2017-18, which would have been the program’s second-best total prior to the start of her career as she holds the career record for steals at 355, over 80 more steals than the next-best mark.

Not just a defensive specialist, Whittington finished her career with the sixth-most field goals made in a career with 462, and the four-highest shooting percentage from the field at 42.4 percent as she sits in ninth in both categories currently.

Also a fantastic passer on the offensive end, Whittington finished her career as the program’s all-time leader in assists with 479 total helpers, producing the most assists in a season with 182 in her senior season of 2017-18 and one other top-10 assist season with 137 in 2016-17, which placed third at the time and now sits fifth.

Prior to the 2024-25 season, Whittington was the holder of the most recent triple-double in Clarke women’s basketball history when she produced 15 points, 10 rebounds, and 13 assists on Feb. 27, 2018 against Missouri Valley College.

Graduating in 2018 with her Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education with a Coaching and Special Education Endorsement, then also earning her Master of Arts in Education in 2019, Whittington earned Magna Cum Laude honors while also being on the Dean’s List from 2016 to 2018 and receiving Daktronics NAIA Scholar Athlete honors in 2017-18.

Whittington currently works as a fifth grade teacher at Dubai American Academy in the United Arab Emirates as her teaching career has been international basically since her departure from Clarke, also working at Universal American School in Dubai and Cap Cana Heritage School in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.

Whittington hopes the Clarke Community will remember her as someone who rose to the challenge, even while recovering from back surgery, because Clarke and Coach Don Adams believed in me and gave me a chance.

I'm proud of setting Clarke’s all-time records in assists and steals, earning national recognition as the number one player in both categories. I reached the 1,000-point milestone, helped lead the program to its first 20-win season, and played a role in Clarke’s first-ever appearance in the NAIA national tournament.

But more than the stats, I hope I’m remembered for my dedication to the team, the relationships I built, and the way I’ve carried those values into my work as a coach and teacher.