Kalika France established a reputation in high school as one of the top players in the nation, ranked as high as tenth in the nation by Blue Star. Not only known for her hustle and ability to get to the basket, France was also one of the nation's best defenders. Her talents won her the honor of Gatorade Player of the Year for the state of Maryland in 2003, and the success continued through two collegiate seasons at the University of Maryland, where she started 62 of her 63 career games. France battled knee tendonitis and a bone bruise her sophomore year at Maryland, then subsequently sat out her junior year as a medical redshirt. France comes to Purdue with two years of eligibility remaining, and may join the Boilermakers mid-season due to the fact the NCAA allows immediate eligibility if the student-athlete transfers for reason of graduate school. France plans to attend Krannert, one of the nation's top management graduate programs, and was quoted in the Lafayette Journal and Courier saying she was not happy at Maryland and needed to pursue basketball somewhere else while in graduate school.
France sat out the 2005-06 season at Maryland as a medical redshirt.
As a sophomore at Maryland, France began the season as an All-ACC honoree and helped Maryland to their first NCAA appearance in 12 seasons. She averaged 11.0 points (25th in scoring in the ACC) and 5.3 rebounds (26th in the ACC) per game, while shooting 40.5-percent from the field. France had 12 points and eight boards in Maryland's loss in the second round of the NCAA tournament to Ohio State.
France's freshman year brought her three Rookie of the Week honors in the ACC which led to her being named to the All-ACC Freshman team and honorable mention all-conference. Led the team in rebounding for the season, and ranked 10th in the ACC in rebounds per game. She averaged 11.7 points (12th in the ACC), 6.0 rebounds (10th in the ACC) and 1.4 steals (14th in the ACC) while shooting 44-percent from the field. Maryland finished the season with a 18-13 record.
In high school at Bishop McNamara, France averaged 12.6 points, 9.0 rebounds and 5.0 steals per game and was named the WCAC Player-of-the-Year as a senior. A four-year starter, France led the Mustangs to their first Washington Catholic Athletic Conference and City Title championships. On a national stage, France was one of 48 players invited to the USA Basketball Developmental Camp, was a Nike All-American Camp invitee, named to the WBCA All-American honorable mention team, and ranked as the tenth-best prospect in the class of 2003 by Blue Star. Considered one of the nation's top defenders.
France chose Purdue over transfer interest from Ohio State, Rutgers, Xavier and others.
Maryland head coach Brenda Frese..."Kalika was someone that we wanted to be able to recruit locally. She comes to
us with national honors being a Parade All-American. She comes to us from Bishop McNamara High School. She is just a
winner in every sense of the word. She is a lefty, off-guard, and will really help us fill the void of Terri Daniels
and Renneika Razor." (October 16, 2003)
Old Gold Free Press scouting report from the 2002 Nike All-American Camp..."A taller guard who can both handle the
ball and hit the outside shot. Nice hustle." (August 2, 2002)
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