Coaching is pretty high on Kaci Mikulski’s priorities list, and when it comes to reaching her goals, the Wildwood Catholic Academy junior always hits her mark.
“I definitely want to coach. I want to win national championships, the whole nine yards,” Mikulski said with a confident smile.
Last year, Mikulski had a breakout season as a sophomore shooting guard, averaging 13.5 points per game and filling a void left by 2021 graduate Marianna Papazoglou, who recorded 1,768 points during her Wildwood Catholic career.
This year, Mikulski is filling another hole by shifting to point guard after Kimmy Casiello graduated from last year’s squad. More responsibility clearly hasn’t shaken Mikulski, who increased her average to 14.5 points this season.
“It’s been an adjustment from the start,” Mikulski said. “But we locked in and my coaches taught me how to be my best as a point guard, and ever since then, I’ve been flowing with it. It’s been really good.”
The move to point guard had been in the plans for a while, Crusaders coach Steve DiPatri said.
“We’ve [guided] her to be a combo guard since she was young,” DiPatri said. “She can play point or she can play off the ball. It was a natural thing for her.”
And even if it wasn’t, Mikulski probably would have found a way to make it work. A self-proclaimed gym rat, Mikulski puts in more hours than most in empty gymnasiums, tossing up shots and working on her skills. It’s always basketball season for Mikulski, no matter what the weather is like in her hometown of Wildwood Crest.
“Basketball season is the best season,” said Mikulski, who plays AAU ball for the Shore Shots. “From the time I started playing, everything clicked. It’s an outlet and an escape. It clears my head. I love watching it, I love playing it and coaching it. Anything that has anything to do with basketball is my thing. That’s what makes me happiest. So when I’m down, I play basketball.”
And she quickly realized not everyone has that same outlet. That’s why she joined her school’s mental health club. Mikulski also helps others as a camp counselor at Crest Pier Recreation Center during the summer. She creates games and even does a little bit of basketball coaching for the younger kids there.
“A lot of our former players have gone on to be coaches, and she has the desire … and asks all the right questions,” DiPatri said. “She has to be my coach on the floor as a point guard.”
DiPatri has more than 500 career coaching wins on his resume, but he doesn’t seem to mind the added help. With Mikulski running the offense, the Crusaders were 15-3 through Jan. 26 and look to be contenders in both the Cape-Atlantic Tournament and the South Jersey Non-Public B playoffs.
“Last year, we got to the CAL and lost and we got to the South Jersey championship and lost, so this year we really want a championship so badly,” Mikulski said.
All things are certainly attainable in both Mikulski’s and DiPatri’s mindset.
“If you want to be good, you have to work outside the normal practice season, and she does,” DiPatri said. “She spends the time in the gym and takes the amount of shots she needs to get better every day. She plays against high-level competition and has the basketball IQ to go with that. The sky’s the limit for her to continue to get better.”
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