Eighth-grader Halle Collins scored almost 700 points the last 1 1/2 seasons at North Laurel but has transferred to Knox Central.
It’s unusual for a rising high school star to transfer at midseason but that’s exactly what Halle Collins did earlier this week. She averaged 14.4 points and 6.8 rebounds per game as a seventh-grader during the 2019-20 season for North Laurel, which finished 28-5 and lost in the 13th Region title game to South Laurel — a team that could have possibly won the state title in COVID had not stopped the state tournament.
Collins shot 54 percent from the field last year and 33 percent (32 of 96) from 3-point range. She was 78 of 100 at the foul line.
This season she was averaging 17.9 points and 11 rebounds per game as an eighth grader and shooting 61.4 percent overall from the field in nine games.
However, Collins left North Laurel for “personal reasons” and transferred to Knox Central. She had 27 points, 15 rebounds, four assists and two blocks in a 79-57 win over Middlesboro Monday night after the transfer was finalized.
That was only Knox Central’s third game of the season and first game in 16 days because of COVID protocols.
Collins already has close to 700 career points along with a Division I scholarship offer from Eastern Kentucky at the midway point of her eighth-grade year.
“She has great skills, is a good shooter and just a really nice player,” one high school coach said when I asked him about Collins. “She is legit. She has a great motor. She works really hard. She is deceiving when you look at her. She’s really strong and creates a lot of problems when you play her.”
Collins had transferred from Jackson County to North Laurel in the sixth grade and has family living in Knox County.
North Laurel was the preseason regional favorite and still has a strong team. Defending champion South Laurel also figures to steadily improve.
Knox Central finished 11-17 last season and lost 76-37 to North Laurel in the regional tourney. However, Knox has a trio of talented players to go with Collins. Junior point guard, senior Presely Partin and junior Brianna Gallagher are all proven scorers and players.
Partin averaged 18.2 points and 6.3 rebounds per game last season and Mills added 13.2 points and 5.9 rebounds. Gallagher averaged 14.4 points and 9.0 rebounds at Barbourville before transferring to Knox this season.
If Collins reaches the 1,000 point mark this year — and she could — it would give Knox four 1,000-point scorers.
No real insights here on what prompted the transfer other than “personal issues” that one source told me but no matter where she is playing keep an eye on eighth-grader Halle Collins because she has a bright, bright future.
