Marshall County alumna is taking her athletic talents back to the golf course, committing this week to play collegiate golf at Bethel University.
JARED JENSEN | The Sun
One thing that Skylar Waller isn’t is a quitter. Despite suffering several serious injuries throughout her competitive athletic career, the former Marshall County Lady Marshal basketball player and golfer has always persevered.
The persevering continues to this day as she embraces the opportunity to play golf at Bethel University.
College golf wasn’t the first choice for Skylar though. She was once preparing for her freshman season at Southeastern University with the women’s basketball team when she hurt her knee for the fourth time.
“In the fall I was at Southeastern getting ready for the season. Everything was going well until I hurt my knee again,” Waller said. “I was going to have to get surgery again to be able to return to the court again and I really didn’t want to do that. It would have been my fourth surgery in four years.”
While she is more than used to dealing with injuries, being sidelined from her basketball career entirely wasn’t something that Skylar was prepared for.
“The surgeon down there wanted me to get two different surgeries; one for my meniscus and one to add more cartilage to my knee,” She said. “I had to decide if I wanted to do that and miss my whole freshman season or just call it with basketball and I really felt like God was calling me to step off the court.
“I hate that my closure with basketball was like that, but at the end of the day I also had to put my health first. I just didn’t think getting another surgery at that point was right for me. And with golf, I played through injuries with golf in high school. I really enjoy playing golf and it’s a lifelong sport, so I’m really excited to start competing again.”
The decision to step away from basketball wasn’t an easy one, but changing focus towards her academics was the right next step. She was able to transfer to Murray State University to focus on getting her nursing degree, that is until she started getting back into golf.
“I never really planned on playing college sports again,” Waller said. “I hadn’t really had it on my mind until I got back into golf this past spring. I chose basketball originally because I had put more time into it in high school and it had just been more of my passion. But golf has always been good to me.”
Skylar recalled being recruited by her new coach out of high school before she chose basketball. She firmly believes the relationship they built back then is what helped make this next chapter possible. Despite being a little rusty when she first picked up her clubs again, she is excited for this next chapter and the opportunity to compete again.