Weight watching — Timpview's 6-1 center makes her presence known on court

PROVO — Passive and aggressive — it's like Timpview's Karlee Weight has two different personalities. One on the basketball court, and one quite different off.

When it comes to hoops, Carlos Boozer — the Utah Jazz's bruising power forward — is her favorite player, and for pregame rituals, she eschews her preferred country music to instead getting pumped up while jamming to hip-hop.

Off the court, Weight loves her English classes but isn't so hot on physics or the A-minus grade that brought her overall grade-point average to 3.95. In her spare time, she loves to watch movies and ride horses.

Standing at 6-foot-1, Timpview's Weight is an imposing figure to her opponents. She averages 10 points and nearly five rebounds a game and she's done this all coming off the bench, a new role with which Weight has struggled.

"I would prefer to start," says the senior center, "but I'll do whatever coach (Kawika Akina) says. Coach says he likes my aggressiveness off the bench and the fact that I'm angry about it (not starting)."

Last year she was a starter but is getting "used" to her new role this year.

What drew Weight to basketball is the team nature of the sport and that she could play what she calls a "contact" sport. She cites Boozer as her favorite player because of what she sees as his bruising style of play.

"I like to use my body to gain an advantage and the team atmosphere of the sport."

Weight, whose family actually lives in Springville boundaries, ended up at Timpview quite by accident. In the eighth grade Weight began to be really interested in basketball and signed up to play offseason at Open Court. Unfortunately for Springville, girls of Weight's age group showed little or no commitment, and this is where she and her family decided to go another direction.

"When I went out to play out at Open Court, only one other (Springville) girl showed up," relates Weight. "I got put on a team of Timpview girls and we really clicked. I then decided to enroll at Timpview my ninth-grade year."

It is a move Weight does not regret at all. "I really love my teammates and the school. I like the fact that Timpview doesn't have a block schedule and there is a great environment here. There is also a commitment here in basketball, where at Springville the emphasis is on softball."

Weight has an aggressive style on the court but basically has an easygoing personality, which relates well with her team and the other students.

"When I came to Timpview, I clicked with the school and my team," she said. "We are such good friends on and off the court."