Drake women's basketball's Katie Dinnebier one of Missouri Valley Conference's top players

Drake women’s basketball player Katie Dinnebier walks into the Knapp Center on a December afternoon and grabs a seat at the scorer’s table. Dinnebier, who is celebrating her 21st birthday, watches as some of her teammates shoot some hoops.

“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else,” Dinnebier says with a smile.

It's no surprise to anyone who knows her. That intensity is part of what has made the junior guard one of the top players in the Missouri Valley Conference this season.

“We’re gym rats,” she says. “And we wouldn’t want it any other way.”

The hard work has paid off for Dinnebier. The 5-foot-8 guard is frequently one of the smallest players on the court. But she's also one of the best. And because of how she plays, Dinnebier is also one of the most popular among fans.

“It’s very easy to call her a Bulldog because as you watch her play, it’s exactly what comes to mind,” said Drake coach Allison Pohlman.

Dinnebier makes the switch from gymnastics to basketball and quickly becomes a star

Dinnebier thought her calling was in gymnastics. She trained at Chow’s Gymnastics, the famous West Des Moines facility where Olympic stars Shawn Johnson and Gabby Douglas honed their skills. Dinnebier dreamed of competing in the Olympics.

“They were my idols,” Dinnebier said.

But another sport eventually grabbed her attention. Dinnebier’s dad, John, played in an adult basketball league. After games, he’d come home and share stories with his daughter. Katie would watch her dad and brother Tanner shoot baskets at the family’s home in Waukee and get jealous. She eventually joined in.

Dad, sister and brother put up countless shots, sometimes hundreds, even playing into the night. Katie and Tanner played 1-on-1, H-O-R-S-E and Around the World. Tanner usually won the matchups early on. But Katie held her own and used her background in gymnastics to her advantage, one time doing a front flip and then tossing an NBA-range 3-pointer into the basket during a game of H-O-R-S-E.

“I think that kind of highlights what kind of athlete she is,” Tanner Dinnebier said. “She’s pretty versatile when it comes to stuff like that.”

When Dinnebier was in fourth grade, she gave up gymnastics. Allen Jones, a friend of John’s, told him he was starting a local basketball team full of kids from the area. The team had an open spot. John recommended Katie. She hadn’t played basketball before but was in great shape and was fast.

That was enough to convince Jones, who brought her on his team. He worked with Dinnebier on dribbling, shooting, ball-handling and individual moves. Dinnebier quickly caught on.

Jones would show Dinnebier a move that would sometimes take other players a few times to learn. She needed to see it just once, maybe twice, and she’d have it down. One in particular was an advanced finish to the basket using spin action and a finger roll. Dinnebier picked up on it right away.

“It wasn’t long before she was one of the best players on our team,” Jones said.

Whenever Jones and his kids went to the gym, Dinnebier tagged along. She got in extra work before practices and worked with Jones to improve her game. Dinnebier wanted to be the best. Her work ethic helped make up for her small size.

Even in middle school, she says she was an inch or two shorter than most players. It didn’t bother her, though. It motivated her. Dinnebier tried to use it to her advantage. She became a scrappy, physical guard who was relentless on defense.

“I’m super passionate about defense and I think being undersized, it allowed me to ... kind of be that pest,” Dinnebier said.

Dinnebier became a star. Because of her advanced level of play, the team was able to compete with elite-level programs like the Iowa Attack. She was a difference-maker, even in middle school. Jones said when Dinnebier fractured her wrist around fifth grade, his team struggled to find someone else to bring the ball up the court.

Dinnebier was driven to be the best. At Waukee High School, Dinnebier showed up to school an hour and a half before classes started to do workouts. John Dinnebier would spend hours rebounding for his daughter as she'd get up shot after shot.

"She wants to win," John Dinnebier said.

Then-Waukee coach Chris Guess would show up in the mornings and see her shooting, lifting or running. During Dinnebier’s freshman season, she suffered a knee injury in practice. Despite the injury, Dinnebier wanted to keep going. Guess had to keep her out of practice. They later learned she suffered a torn ACL. After getting it repaired, Dinnebier showed up to practice every day, getting up free throws on a side hoop.

“A lot of kids, that would be discouraging and just pretty earth-shattering ... that’s a long road ahead to recover and get back,” Guess said. “And not only does she get back, you would never know that knee had ever been repaired."

Dinnebier becomes the face of Drake program and a Ruffles ad

To understand how competitive Dinnebier is, Pohlman likes to tell a story of team gathering over winter break.

After every player on the team was given two gifts, they all began opening the first one at the same time. As soon as Dinnebier tore through her first, she quickly started ripping the next one open.

“She’s just going crazy,” Pohlman said.

It wasn’t a contest. But Dinnebier had to be the first to finish. That’s how she’s always been.

For Christmas Day the last three years, Dinnebier and her brother have gone to the Knapp Center to get shots up and battle against each other in games.

The competitions, just like when they were kids on the driveway, can get intense. Unlike those days, she’s usually the one who wins.

Dinnebier, the 2021 Miss Iowa Basketball and 2021 Gatorade Iowa Girls Basketball Player of the Year, just keeps getting better. After earning a starting spot at Drake as a freshman, Dinnebier averaged 8.9 points per game and led the team with 107 assists and 48 steals. She performed even better as a sophomore during the 2022-23 campaign, averaging 11.7 points and 5.8 assists per game.

Dinnebier has really made a name for herself this season. She entered Saturday first among Missouri Valley Conference players in scoring (19.7 points), assists (5.7) and steals (2.9) per game. Pohlman believes Dinnebier's playing time during her first two seasons set the stage for her breakout success as a junior.

“I think what has really been the most enhanced more than anything is just her ability to understand what her team needs from her at all times,” Pohlman said.

Whatever it is, Dinnebier is willing to do it, whether that means shooting the 3, connecting with a teammate on an important pass or even mixing it up in the lane. She can do it all.

Dinnebier is still undersized, even for a point guard and especially for what she does, like posting up in the lane from time to time.

Dinnebier admits she likes looking over at the opposing bench to see how teams react after she makes a great play. Guess said if she were an inch or two taller, Power 5 conference teams would have been knocking down her door while she was in high school. Instead, it was mid-majors that came calling.

“I would never, ever count Katie Dinnebier out of anything,” Guess said.

Pohlman, who was an assistant when Dinnebier committed to Drake, reached out to her right away when she took over the program. The new coach didn’t want anyone trying to lure her away. Pohlman saw all the promise and potential that Dinnebier had. Now it's coming to fruition.

Dinnebier is a star off the court as well. She's used Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) deals to line up opportunities with companies including Ruffles, which turned into a national marketing campaign with a shot of her with a basketball and a bag of chips in Des Moines.

Dinnebier has also amassed more than 18,000 followers on TikTok, with many of her videos focused on dancing and basketball. She’s a fan favorite among the Drake faithful for her hard-nosed play, diving after loose balls, pestering opposing teams on defense and fighting for rebounds.

“I think it’s because she does something at such a high level of success with a smile on her face,” Pohlman said.

The future looks brighter than ever for Dinnebier, who is preparing for a career in pharmacy when school is done. But that’s down the road. There’s still plenty of basketball to be played at Drake. Dinnebier has her sights set on guiding the team to another conference crown after winning last year’s MVC Tournament. She also wants to take the Bulldogs back to the NCAA Tournament.

Regardless of what happens next, what Dinnebier has already accomplished is remarkable.

“It just makes us such proud parents,” John Dinnebier said.

Tommy Birch, the Register's sports enterprise and features reporter, has been working at the newspaper since 2008. He's the 2018 and 2020 Iowa Sportswriter of the Year. Reach him at tbirch@dmreg.com or 515-284-8468

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Drake women's basketball player Katie Dinnebier one of Valley's best