Bailey Kuhns may not have had the typical upbringing of a modern NCAA Division I athlete.
A 2022 Greensburg Central Catholic graduate, Kuhns was raised on a small family farm in Mount Pleasant, Westmoreland County, by her parents, Leslie and Russell, alongside her sisters Kelsey, Rylie and Delanie.
Unlike many of her peers, the Mercyhurst junior has returned home each summer of her NCAA basketball career to work at JC Custom Processing, a butcher shop in Alverton, in addition to Windy Heights Farm Market in Ruffs Dale.
“It’s something I pride myself on,” Kuhns said. “I’ve always been quite different. I never really fit the narrative, that’s for sure. I’ve always embraced where I did come from. It’s what made me who I am.”
What that is, according to Mercyhurst women’s basketball coach Brooklyn Kohlheim, is a “super competitor.”
“I don’t know if they make kids like this anymore,” the sixth-year Lakers coach said. “She grew up on a farm. She just chops wood and milks cows and does things that nobody else does anymore, and that’s what she’s used to. You don’t have to worry about if she’s getting into the gym.
“She’s just a really good kid,” Kohlheim added of Kuhns, “very committed to what we’re building here.”
And now Mercyhurst certainly has a cornerstone to build its newly minted NCAA Division I program around.
A 5-foot-11 forward, Kuhns is averaging 20.5 points per game to lead the mid-major Northeast Conference in scoring.
Mercyhurst is competing in Division I for the first time this season after making a jump up in classification from the Division II Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference before the start of this academic year.
“I don’t like focusing on the statistics because I don’t think that’s the purity of the game,” Kohlheim said. “The purity of the game, and when it’s special, is when you’re focusing on things that are bigger than that. I do my best to try and stay away from looking at all those things and just letting things happen the way they’re intended to. I try to do that by just being the best me that I can be for my team.”
For Kohlheim, that has been plenty over the past three years.
Kuhns appeared in all 28 of the Lakers games her freshman season in 2022-23, averaging 5.3 points and 3.6 rebounds per game. She then hit her stride as a sophomore, starting 28 of Mercyhurst’s 29 games a season ago and averaging a team-high 14.3 points per outing, while shooting 50% from the floor and making 75.6% of her attempts from the free-throw line.
In addition to her NEC-best scoring output this winter, Kuhn is shooting 49% from the field, which is good for fourth best in the conference. She is also averaging 5.3 rebounds per game with 15 assists and 15 steals.
“She can do anything for us,” Kohlheim said. “What I think really helps her in the league is you can put a really physical five on her and she’ll just get a catch in the mid-post, or just a little bit off of the block, and she’s able to create that way. Then if you put somebody smaller on her, somebody her size, she is just so physical because she just moves mules for the summer or like chops wood or whatever. She’s just such a physical presence under there that it’s really, really hard to guard.”
And Kuhns is looking to make it only tougher for defenders to guard her moving forward.
After making just seven 3-pointers over the course of her first two seasons at Mercyhurst, Kuhns has cashed in on 12 attempts from beyond the 3-point arc this season.
“I think if she can get a little bit more consistent 3-point shot, that would really, really develop her game,” Kohlheim said.
With all of her success this season, Kohlheim said opposing coaches have taken notice of how strong Kuhns’ game has become.
Kohlheim said she fully expects Kuhns to have opportunities to move to a larger Division I program via the NCAA transfer portal following the season.

“It’s weird to be a junior and kind of be worried about the fact that she could transfer out and probably get paid, but it’s a reality,” Kohlheim said. “I wouldn’t blame her, or have any resentment toward her, with that, but if she stayed, she would definitely be the cornerstone of what we’re building here. We’re recruiting guards in this upcoming recruiting class to support her and play with her.”
Kuhns said she is not considering entering the transfer portal as of yet.
“I’m where my feet are, and I’m an extremely loyal person,” she said. “Loyalty is something I pride myself on. As of right now, what’s important to me is that I’m a Mercyhurst Laker and that’s who’s getting all of my effort and energy. I’m not paying attention to anyone else. This program has been loyal to me. Coach K has been loyal to me, and I don’t think it would be even fair to think about putting my mind somewhere else.”
In addition to Kuhns’ development at the Division I level, junior guard Jenna Van Schaik has averaged 12.4 points per game with 51 assists and 28 steals to pace Mercyhurst.
The Lakers roster also features several young former WPIAL standouts, who are poised to make an impact in years to come.
Freshman guards Quinn Borroni and Alena Fusetti, both former teammates at Blackhawk, have seen time in Mercyhurst’s rotation this season, along with freshman forward Erica Hall (South Fayette), freshman guard Ella Cupka (Chartiers Valley) and sophomore guard Sophia Kelly (Hampton).
Kuhns said she has worked to develop herself as a leader of this young program.
“I like to face it more with humility than pride,” Kuhns said. “I never feel like I’ve arrived or I’ve done something. I always just feel like there’s more to get. I feel like the more humble you stay, not only is it better for yourself, but you just can impact people in a more special way when you’re more humble in what you’re doing.
“I just always hope that I’m doing the right things and I’m doing what’s asked of me,” she added. “If that is what I’m doing at the end of the day, then that’s great. God gives me the grace to do that and I’ll just keep doing the best I can.”
Kuhns said that certainly means relying on her roots and family as a source of inspiration.
The 20-year-old early childhood and special education major is engaged to Mercyhurst men’s basketball senior forward Aiden Reichert. She said her relationships with her fiancé, her parents and sisters have become even more important to her over the years.
“You start to realize this is a pretty important thing,” Kuhns said. “They are my whole entire support system. I can tell you, there is nothing more special to me than a game day where they’re all sitting in the stands and then after the game we can go out to eat together.
“It’s something that just is really special to me,” she added. “They believe in me, and they always have more than anyone else has. They’re my whole support system, and I couldn’t do it without them.”
John is a copy editor and page designer at the Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at jsanta@unionprogress.com.