Kershel Claussen has the best of both worlds. In her search for a college to attend, the Grand Junction High School senior wanted to pursue a career in fashion merchandising while continuing to play basketball.

Johnson & Wales University offers both. The decision was a slam dunk for Claussen, who’s looking forward to playing at the Denver-based school this fall.

“That actually was a big choice. Because a lot of the other schools I was looking into didn’t offer any major dealing with fashion. So that really helped,” she said.

The basketball portion came in a discussion she had with Johnson & Wales’ head coach Clifton Durant.

“They wanted girls that can play inside and outside, good shooters and decent ballhandlers. I just kind of fit into that for them,” Claussen said.

While Claussen’s role will be more defined when she joins the team later this summer, she’s been told that she’ll be used at both small and power forward.

“It will definitely be a lot more faster paced,” Claussen said of the transition from high school to college basketball. “Everything’s faster. Even at (the team’s) scrimmages, I noticed that it was a lot faster pace that what we had (in high school).”

Even though Claussen has two weeks left before graduating from high school, she’s already highlighted one part of the Wildcats 2008-09 upcoming schedule.

“We come over here on November 28th and 29th. I’ve grown up watching Mesa State play. It’s going to be fun to play them and see how that goes.”