By Bill Sheehan
At first glance, Kathryn Neff and Fujika Nimmo don't seem to have much in common.
The two Cal State Fullerton basketball players come from opposite coasts. Neff was raised in California, just six miles from the Pacific Ocean, and Nimmo grew up in Florida, not far from the Atlantic Ocean. Neff is a 6-foot stretch forward, and Nimmo is a 5-foot-7 guard.
But Neff and Nimmo are good friends and roommates. They are the Titans' only fifth-year seniors. And they are both being counted on to help the team secure a berth in the eight-team Big West Conference Tournament, which will be held in Las Vegas in March.
Fujika Nimmo and Kathryn Neff are Fullerton fifth-year seniors and roommates. Nimmo is a combo guard, and Neff is a stretch forward.
Fullerton, which is 5-9 overall and 1-3 in Big West play, will try to snap a three-game losing streak when it plays CSUN (2-12, 0-4) on Saturday at 6 p.m. at Titan Gym.
Jeff Harada, the Titans head coach, said any team turnaround must commence on the defensive end.
"We need to be a better team going forward, and that starts with our players buying in defensively," said Harada. "We like to score in transition, so our offense is predicated on our defense. We aren't getting enough stops."
Neff and Nimmo, who were both granted a fifth year of eligibility because of the NCAA's Covid rules, agree that team must firm up its defense.
"We need to start games with more energy and with a greater sense of urgency, especially on defense," said Neff. "It's hard playing catchup in the third quarter after giving up early leads. We need to quickly pinpoint when opponents are going on their run and tighten things up immediately."
The team must play with more consistency, Nimmo said. "We'll have two good quarters, then a bad quarter, which causes us to play catchup. We must have the will and desire to be stronger and more confident on the court. That will fire up the sense of urgency and help us win more games," said Nimmo.
The two have developed a fun friendship over the past few years. "Fuji is super kind, funny, and just brings a positive energy. One of my favorite things about her and one of the reasons we get along well is she's always trying new things such as food and activities," said Neff.
"Kat is an amazing roommate and teammate," said Nimmo. "She is a fun person. She has helped me a lot whenever I have questions about diet and health, and she always shares her yummy recipes with me."
Titans' comeback player of the season
This has been a comeback season for Neff, who a year ago suffered a non-contact ACL tear in her left knee on the first play of the Titans' first conference game. "Kathryn had never been injured in her whole career," said Harada. "She worked hard on her rehab and physical therapy while leading the team from the bench. I give her a ton of credit for being resilient and getting in shape to play this season."
"Coming back that first month or so was the hardest for me mentally. You're doubting yourself. And we are deep, so I have to compete for minutes and to get back into the position I was in. But once I got over that hump, I felt really positive," recalled Neff., who was fully cleared to play in October.
"At a tournament in Hawaii in November, I dove for a loose ball for the first time since the injury. I didn't think about it until after the fact, but that gave me confidence going forward." Neff, a starter, is averaging 3.9 points, 1.8 rebounds.
Harada, who is in his seventh year at Fullerton, has coached Neff longer than any other Titan student-athlete. "Kathryn is a great player and a great person. She makes great decisions and is someone I don't have to worry about. She gives you everything she has -- on the court and in the classroom."
"She's our captain and is a leader by example and with her voice. She tries to ensure everyone is doing the right thing," he said. "What drew me to Kat was her physicality and determination to guard any position."
Neff has played both stretch four -- a power forward with outside shooting skills – and center in at Fullerton. As a freshman in the 2019-20 season, she played in 28 games as part of the rotation at the post position. She started more than half of Fullerton's games as a sophomore, averaging 4.5 points and 2.1 rebounds per game.
She was a regular starter as a junior, averaging 4.1 points and 3.6 boards and establishing career-highs in points (17) and rebounds (16) in a Titans' win over UC Irvine. This season, she has started all but three games and is fourth among Titans in minutes played.
Gabi Vidmar, Fullerton's scoring leader and the team's best two-way player, called Neff a great team player. "She moves the ball and can shoot. She is always talking on the court and guiding the younger players, especially on defense. Even last season was she was injured – before or after games – she always had something positive to say. She provided an extra voice, telling us what was working and what wasn't, and seeing things other players couldn't see."
"Kat is very friendly, very caring. She is a laid-back, easy-going person with a great sense of humor who everyone wants to be around," said Vidmar, who is a fourth-year senior from Adelaide, Australia. Vidmar called Neff a highly organized person but said has had moments of forgetfulness when it comes to her basketball shoes.
"A few times Kat has forgotten her shoes and has had to run off the bus to retrieve them. One time at Hawaii, she forgot to bring her basketball shoes. She ended up wearing one of our teammates' shoes that were 2 sizes too small. I don't think many or our teammates our coaches even knew. She managed to play well."
Neff, who hails from San Marcos in north San Diego County, played several sports, including soccer, golf and tennis, before focusing on basketball. We are a tall family -- my dad is 6-feet-6. So I ended up playing basketball and volleyball. He coached a couple of my recreation teams, and he would always rebound for me in the backyard. But he never forced me to play basketball. It was my decision."
Neff was a four-year varsity basketball performer at Mission Hills High School in San Marcos. A team captain and First Team All-League as a junior and senior, Neff helped her team to two CIF Open Division championships. She was the Avocado West League Player of the Year and scored more than 1,000 points in her high school career.
Her parents, Jim and Tracie, both played multiple sports in high school. Jim is a sales representative for a tech company and Tracie is a registered nurse. Her brother Kyle, 19, played basketball at Mission Hills and is coaching the school's freshman team. He is a freshman at Cal State San Marcos.
"We wanted both our kids to try multiple things – different sports and musical instruments. She continued playing volleyball, but basketball was a good fit. She was tall, and it's a very busy, active sport and fast-moving game," said Jim, who said he and his wife try to attend every home game.
Neff was named a Cardinal scholar and graduated with a GPA over 4.0 at Mission Hills. As a Titan freshman, MULTIPLE she was named to the Big West Commissioners "Highest Honor. She has already earned a business degree with a concentration in legal studies and will graduate with an MBA in organizational leadership this spring.
Asked to explain her success off and on the court, Jim Neff said his daughter is very detail-oriented, mindful of what she needs to do and never gets sidetracked. "We never had to help do her homework. She also is very coachable, a hard worker and a big people-pleaser."
The 22-year-old does not regret spending five years as a Titan. "Fullerton has a great business school for undergraduates and graduate students. The campus in general is underrated. It has a great location, and it was relatively close to home.
"Basketball has had its ups and downs, especially with Covid. Coach Harada is passionate and tries to figure out the best ways to navigate things. We have underachieved the past few years. But he cares and wants to fix it. In the past year, the upperclassmen and coaches have been working more closely to figure out the best direction to move forward and Improve things overall.
Neff is a certified nutritionist and enjoys cooking and healthy eating. She is learning crocheting during her winter break from school. She also likes watching TV shows, trips to the beach and travel. She has visited several European countries, including Norway and Greece. And while she was rehabilitating her knee, she accompanied the team during its two-game exhibition trip in Italy last summer. "Italy was pretty incredible and my most memorable trip, though I have loved all visits to Hawaii."
Upon graduating, Neff plans to relocate to New York City and pursue a corporate-level job in project or event management, possibly in the fields of fitness and health, active wear or supplements or sports-related businesses.
"She'll do fine," said her father. "She has got that alpha personality and likes bossing people around. She's usually the person in charge."
A transfer from Florida to California
After Fujika Nimmo entered the transfer portal following her sophomore season at Florida International University, one of the first schools to contact her was Cal State Fullerton.
"I got an email from Coach Jeff. I saw it was from California, and I said to myself, 'No thank you," and threw it in the trash," said Nimmo, whose hometown is Davenport, in central Florida.
Her mother, Emiko, who was born and raised in the Tokyo area, told Nimmo that there was a Japanese women's head coach on the West Coast, then confirmed it was Harada. "You have to hear him out," Nimmo was told.
"Fujika called me back the next day to hear what I had to say," recalled Harada.
"Representation is very important to my parents," said Nimmo. "I had a conversation with coach. Then my parents and I had a three-hour zoom call with him. We clicked right away."
Cal State Fullerton offered an excellent education, location and a lot of resources, said Nimmo. "The school has opened my eyes to diversity, and I've expanded my horizons being here. I've learned a lot. And I've grown as a player, trying to understand what is expected of me and how to handle my responsibilities," she said.
"Fujika is probably one of the better transfers we have signed and has been great addition," said Harada. "She can handle the ball, but she is also a shooting guard whom we lean on for her scoring. She is a slasher who can score at all three levels – from the three-point line, mid-range and at the rim.
"She is a creator for us – she can create her own shot and shots for others. Fujika is not afraid of contact and gets to the free throw line. And she works hard defensively.
In her two years at Miami-based Florida International, Nimmo averaged 10.3 points and 2.5 rebounds while starting 42 of 55 games. "Florida International was a good experience. I learned how to be on my own and matured. We were dealing with Covid my freshman year, and I learned more about myself while being isolated from others."
Nimmo continued her productivity after transferring to Fullerton. As a junior, she averaged 10.1 points, 2.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists a game while starting more than half the games.
She had a breakthrough season in the 2022-23 season. Nimmo started all 30 games, racking up 14.5 points and 3.1 rebounds per game. She set new career-high with her 26-point game at Santa Clara and her five three-pointers against Cal Poly. She was named to the All-Big West Team and was third in the conference in scoring.
A combo guard, Nimmo missed the opening eight games this season before being cleared to play Dec. 28 against USC. She has averaged 8.7 points, 2 rebounds and 1.8 assists over six games.
"I had a longing to be out there with my team. I'm the oldest of our point-guard group – the rest are freshman. They needed my leadership and guidance. But now I'm sharing my knowledge and experience, and we are figuring stuff out, such as boxing out and avoiding scoring droughts. Things are flowing more smoothly."
The 22-year-old Nimmo takes 250-300 shots three times a week using a shooting machine. She works on mid-range and three-point shots.
"Fuji is one of our most versatile players we have," said Ashlee Lewis, the Titans' starting center. "She makes everyone better on the team and really works hard out there."
"She is the nicest person I have met during my years at Fullerton. Off the court, Fuji is someone all her teammates enjoy hanging out with," said Lewis, who is a senior from Cerritos.
Lewis recalled a humorous moment when Nimmo had some pratfalls at the start of one practice. "She was trying to walk onto the court and slipped and fell. Then I was helping her up and she slipped again and fell. It was recorded on tape, and we all had a laugh about it."
Nimmo was born and raised in Virginia Beach, Virginia. At age 7, she watched her father, Jesse Nimmo, play in adult basketball leagues and decided she wanted to play too.
"We started with some 3-foot basketball goals at home, said her father. "We had her in martial arts at age 4 and that helped her agility. And she just stuck with basketball, playing on youth teams."
A year later, the Nimmo family moved to the central Florida city of Davenport As a fifth-grader, she played on a boys AAU team. In sixth grade, Nimmo burst into tears when her name was left off the list of middle-school girl team members.
"What's wrong? I didn't make the team," Nimmo told the coach. "My dad will be so disappointed." The coach replied, "This is the list for the JV team. You made the varsity."
In seventh grade, Nimmo underwent surgery for severe scoliosis. "She basically had to learn how to walk again and may have lost an inch or 2. But she was back on the court in less than a year," said her father.
"She is physical, athletic, good with the ball and has a high basketball IQ," said her father. "I've told her not to be too hard on herself. Also, I've said don't settle for being labeled efficient. She has to be aggressive and keep the other team on its heels."
At Haines City High School, Nimmo averaged 26 points, 3.5. rebounds and 1.0 steals per game. She was the 9A Player of the Year twice and finished as the school's all-time leading scorer with more than 2,100 points. She ranked second in her graduating class.
Her parents met while her father was serving in the U.S. Army in Japan. Jesse, who is 6-foot-3, played basketball at the University of Missouri, Kansas City, and in the Army. Emiko is 5-foot-11 but didn't play sports. Nimmo's 18-year-old brother, Yoshi, is 6-foot-6 and playing in the top Japanese professional basketball league. Yoshi, who is completing his senior year of high school online, is based in Kariya, southeast of Nagoya.
Jesse is retired from the Army and owns a screen printing and embroidery business. He also teaches and coaches in the local school district. Emiko is a custom service manager for Apple. They have attended some games at Fullerton and watch the Titans on ESPN+.
"My dad always stressed the importance of being versatile and developing a lot of skills. He said the more you can do, the more you can play. My mom has helped me through the good times and the hard times, the failures and the successes."
Nimmo enjoys drawing and sketching landscapes and portraits. She also likes to sew -- her maternal grandmother was a seamstress—and she makes custom shirts.
She said she has enjoyed her years at Cal State Fullerton. "The group of girls on the team—past and present -- really helped me adjust. I don't feel homesick. Florida and California are similar – good weather, nice people and good beaches. The girls on the team are my family away from my family and have been here to help me through a lot."
She aims to play professional basketball, either in the U.S. or overseas. Last year, she participated in a weeklong tryout for the Japanese national team. Although she was unsuccessful, she said she learned a lot.
"It was an eye-opening experience. I'm not fluent in Japanese, so I had to use a translator. Most of the girls had been playing at a high professional level. I got to meet a lot of people and see how basketball is played overseas."
Nimmo is majoring in Early Childhood Education and Teaching. She eventually would like to become an elementary school teacher and has done volunteer work at two Fullerton primary schools.
Lewis, her teammate, said Nimmo is well suited to become an educator. "She is a very charismatic person. She is very comfortable tutoring the younger girls on our team."
"Fuji comes over to my family's home each Thanksgiving. I have two younger cousins, and she always devotes lots of time to them. She is great around children."
