SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Twenty-five years ago this fall, Jackie Stiles left Claflin, Kansas, (pop: 700-ish) for what was then-Southwest Missouri State — the school she chose over Connecticut and Tennessee, among other elite programs around the nation.
“It was a miracle that she came” to what is now known as Missouri State, then-coach Cheryl Burnett said on Wednesday.
The miracle wasn’t merely that she could have gone anywhere but chose to come here. Or that she became the NCAA’s career scoring leader (21 years ago on Tuesday, as a matter of fact) and led the school to the 2001 Final Four in St. Louis amid a run that was something akin to Beatlemania.
It also was that the effervescent and indomitable spirit of someone who arrived here with a too-good-to-be-true tale lifted from a Norman Rockwell canvas never was spoiled or tarnished or darkened or diminished in any way.
Not by the pressure or attention or the series of heartbreaks to follow.
At a time it’s easy to get lost in the meanness of the world, it’s nice to be reminded of the sheer goodness, isn’t it?
You could see that in any number of ways on Wednesday at the Gillioz Theater before, during and after the premiere of a documentary about her life produced by Springfield native Brent Huff.
No spoilers here about the movie (“The Jackie Stiles Story: Anything Is Possible”) that will have limited engagements while Huff makes the rounds of film festivals and producers reps.
But safe to say it’s both a stirring reminder of one of the great adventures in college basketball history and a very real look at the arc of her life almost a full generation later.
In fact, her story is as inspiring for its resounding peaks as for how she’s contended with its crushing lows since being named WNBA rookie of the year in 2001.
Consider, for instance, the way she spoke before the movie of her ongoing battle with ocular melanoma diagnosed about four years ago: While she is generally healthy, she says, she has suffered some vision loss lately that has led to receiving injections in her eye.
“But I can’t complain,” she said. “I’ve been very fortunate.”
For that matter …
“I wouldn’t wish cancer on anyone, but I can honestly say cancer has made me a better person,” said Stiles, who received thousands of cards and messages of support as she underwent surgery in 2018. “And I was so inspired by the tremendous support when I was diagnosed that I vowed to do at least one small act of kindness every day. And I challenge others to do it as well. Because you just don’t realize what a text or a card … could mean to people.”
So here she was on Wednesday afternoon, personally greeting nearly every one of the approximately 400 people who came to the first of two showings of the movie.
