East Jefferson’s Kyla Duncan, all-league 3 times, signs with XULA

NEW ORLEANS — Kyla Duncan, a 5-foot-10 forward and a three-time all-district performer from Metairie, La., signed an athletic scholarship Friday with Xavier University of Louisiana women’s basketball.

Duncan is averaging 16 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three steals through 12 games this season for East Jefferson High School. Duncan averaged 16 points as a junior for an EJ team that finished 17-10. Her coach at EJ is Henry Latten, who earned his master’s from XULA.

Duncan was all-district as a sophomore and freshman for coach Mike Kracjer Jr. at Archbishop Chapelle High School, and as a sophomore she was named third-team all-metro by the New Orleans Advocate newspaper. Duncan averaged 10.2 points as a freshman.

“Kyla reminds me of one our All-America players, Jackie Tucker,” XULA coach Bo Browder said. “Kyla is a forward who can play inside and outside. She is strongly committed to winning and doing everything the right way — on the floor, in the classroom and in the community.”

Duncan is a National Honor Society member. As a junior she won EJ’s law studies award.

Duncan will major in biology at XULA. She wants to become a physical therapist.

Duncan is the Gold Nuggets’ second signee for 2018-19. Shae Johnson, a 6-2 forward/center from Riverside, Calif., and Martin Luther King High School, signed in November.

XULA competes in the NAIA and has won six Gulf Coast Athletic Conference tournaments in the last 10 seasons. The Gold Nuggets qualified for the NAIA Division I National Championship 19 times in the last 23 seasons. XULA is 5-3 this season, including a victory against nationally ranked Our Lady of the Lake.