Kisa Renee Hughes was born on September 23, 1973, in Harbor City, California to her loving parents, Ronald and Barbara Hughes. She was the first born of five children, Kilee, Ronald Jr., Solomon and Gabriel. She accepted Christ into her heart at an early age and her devotion continued throughout her life.
Kisa spent the first part of her life in Orange County, California where she attended various Christian schools. As an adolescent she moved with her parents to Riverside, California where she first atttended University Heights Middle School and later John Wesley North High. During her freshman year Kisa was introduced to basketball and volleyball. She received top honors in both sports.
In 1991, in fact, she was selected to represent the USA in the Junior Olympics for basketball. She continued her basketball career in college. She received a full-scholarship at Cal State Fullerton where, in her freshman year, she was selected as Big-West “Player of the Year.” In her sophomore year Kisa was once more drafted with a full-scholarship – this time she was to play basketball at University of California Los Angeles. Once transferred at UCLA, she continued her record setting career by leading the PAC-10 in field percentage with .577 mark. Among the many honors that Kisa received throughout her career, she is remembered for being nominated for All-Pac-10 Conference selection in 1995 and for being ranked second in Pac-10 rebounding and field goal percentages, also in 1995. Finally, in that same year, she received honorable mention All-American by Basketball Times. Perhaps Kisa’s greatest achievement is that she was only one of four players at UCLA to have scored 30 points and 20 rebounds in a single game during her career. In 1996, Kisa completed her college career securing a place among those players who had been ranked on the all-time school rebounding list.
Upon graduation, Kisa was recruited to play professional basketball internationally. She did so in China, Germany and Austria.
Later she was employed by the City of Los Angeles where she served as a Youth Development Specialist for the Rewarding Youth Achievement Program. Kisa was instrumental in assisting youth in the urban community with reaching their educational and employment goals.
Kisa also participated in the American Heritage Tour Program, where she visited college campuses and historical sites throughout the country. Her main goal was to expand the minds of youths by showing them something outside of their own neighborhoods. Kisa assisted over 200 youths in getting accepted into colleges and universities all over the country. Two years into her city service, she earned the position of Interim Educational Director for the Youth Opportunity Program where she had oversight of many educational projects. She was an inspiration to students and staff and a true champion for education in the Watts community.
With her 6’4″ height, magnetic personality and compassion for others, Kisa was the very image of a reserved “gentle giant.” She was a long-time member of Athletes in Action, a worldwide Christian fellowship for athletes. In addition she was an active member of the The Shepherd of the Hills church in Porter Ranch, California. She will forever be remembered for her loving spirit, her strength, dedication and passion for what she believed.
