Everything Comes Bigger in Texas
ST. LOUIS, MO -- The 2009 Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) High School All-America Game took place Saturday afternoon inside Washington University's Fieldhouse and the state of Texas was very well represented among the 20 participants. Five of the 20 players reside in the great state of Texas: Brittney Griner (Nimitz HS, Houston, TX, Baylor University); Cokie Reed (Midway HS, Waco, TX, University of Texas); Kelsey Bone (Dulles HS, Sugar Land, TX, University of South Carolina); Nikki Greene (Diboll HS, Diboll, TX, Penn State University); and Waltia Rolle (Westbury Christian School, Houston, TX, University of North Carolina).
ALL five of them are at least 6'4": Griner (6'8"); Reed (6'4"); Bone (6'5"); Greene (6'4"); and Rolle (6'6") which as Cokie Reed said "Everything comes bigger in Texas".
Griner and Reed played for the Blue Team in the All-America Game and helped the Blue Team defeat the White Team and their three Texas buddies 79 to 77 in a very competitive ball game.
Griner, the WBCA's High School Player of the Year, was named Most Valuable Player for the Blue Team while Skylar Diggins was named MVP for the White Team. Griner finished the game with 20 points (9 for 15 from the field); 9 rebounds; 8 blocked shots; and 3 steals in 31 minutes of action. Diggins finished with 24 points (9 for 21 from the field); 5 assists; and 5 steals.
After the game, I spoke with three of Texas' Tall Five: Griner; Reed; and Bone.
Griner scored 14 of her 20 points and blocked five of her eight shots and had some people at the press tables shaking their heads and "oohing and ahhing" with her talent right now and the fact she almost undoubtedly will get better in the near future.
"I need to improve my ball handling," said Griner. "Getting low (in the post); lifting weights; getting some more muscle gain."
If you have not seen Brittney Griner play basketball, her saying she needs more muscle gain and she wants to lift weights is a scary thought for Baylor's opponents the next four years.
Griner feels "We (Baylor) can go all the way. With the girls that are coming in (for the '09-'10 season) and Danielle (Danielle Wilson, 6'5, center) coming back from her (knee) injury, we're going to be stacked. It's going to be great!"
Cokie Reed described the All-America Game as "fun". "It was the most fun I've had in an All-Star Game. Some of the best girls in the country and to just compete. It was just fun."
Reed added, "Texas does produce a lot of top talent in the country. Texas is just representing."
Reed explained why she chose to attend the University of Texas.
"It was close to home so my family can come see me. I didn't want to go too far; but, I wanted to get out of Waco because I have a little bit of growing up to do. It's about an hour and thirty minutes from my house."
Reed also discussed her thoughts on competing in the Big 12 Conference and facing Brittney Griner for the next four seasons.
"The Big 12 is just a beast. From top to bottom, from the upcoming teams to the teams that are already established, it's just a beast. It's a beast. It's just an honor to play in the Big 12 and play in front of my family and stay close to home. Brittney and I are cool. We're friends. She knows my game. I know her game. It's going to be a battle between us when we do play each other."
Kelsey Bone did not make her college choice until April 1 ("2:45 p.m. Wednesday"). Her mother wanted her to select Texas A&M University; but, Kelsey said "My mom knows I've always talked about helping build a program and being different. I never wanted wanted to walk the path with the footprints already there. I like to lead a couple of people from time to time so that was pretty much it."
Bone admitted she needs to learn to play each game night in and night out.
"I've got to learn how to play night in and night out. In high school, I didn't have to do that. I might play the first quarter this quarter and two quarters the next game and then the whole game the following game. So, I'm not real familiar with night in and night out having the competition because I'm used to just beating everybody by forty -- that's what we did in high school. College is a hard transition; but, it's one that I'm looking forward to and I'm up for the challenge."
ALL five of them are at least 6'4": Griner (6'8"); Reed (6'4"); Bone (6'5"); Greene (6'4"); and Rolle (6'6") which as Cokie Reed said "Everything comes bigger in Texas".
Griner and Reed played for the Blue Team in the All-America Game and helped the Blue Team defeat the White Team and their three Texas buddies 79 to 77 in a very competitive ball game.
Griner, the WBCA's High School Player of the Year, was named Most Valuable Player for the Blue Team while Skylar Diggins was named MVP for the White Team. Griner finished the game with 20 points (9 for 15 from the field); 9 rebounds; 8 blocked shots; and 3 steals in 31 minutes of action. Diggins finished with 24 points (9 for 21 from the field); 5 assists; and 5 steals.
After the game, I spoke with three of Texas' Tall Five: Griner; Reed; and Bone.
Griner scored 14 of her 20 points and blocked five of her eight shots and had some people at the press tables shaking their heads and "oohing and ahhing" with her talent right now and the fact she almost undoubtedly will get better in the near future.
"I need to improve my ball handling," said Griner. "Getting low (in the post); lifting weights; getting some more muscle gain."
If you have not seen Brittney Griner play basketball, her saying she needs more muscle gain and she wants to lift weights is a scary thought for Baylor's opponents the next four years.
Griner feels "We (Baylor) can go all the way. With the girls that are coming in (for the '09-'10 season) and Danielle (Danielle Wilson, 6'5, center) coming back from her (knee) injury, we're going to be stacked. It's going to be great!"
Cokie Reed described the All-America Game as "fun". "It was the most fun I've had in an All-Star Game. Some of the best girls in the country and to just compete. It was just fun."
Reed added, "Texas does produce a lot of top talent in the country. Texas is just representing."
Reed explained why she chose to attend the University of Texas.
"It was close to home so my family can come see me. I didn't want to go too far; but, I wanted to get out of Waco because I have a little bit of growing up to do. It's about an hour and thirty minutes from my house."
Reed also discussed her thoughts on competing in the Big 12 Conference and facing Brittney Griner for the next four seasons.
"The Big 12 is just a beast. From top to bottom, from the upcoming teams to the teams that are already established, it's just a beast. It's a beast. It's just an honor to play in the Big 12 and play in front of my family and stay close to home. Brittney and I are cool. We're friends. She knows my game. I know her game. It's going to be a battle between us when we do play each other."
Kelsey Bone did not make her college choice until April 1 ("2:45 p.m. Wednesday"). Her mother wanted her to select Texas A&M University; but, Kelsey said "My mom knows I've always talked about helping build a program and being different. I never wanted wanted to walk the path with the footprints already there. I like to lead a couple of people from time to time so that was pretty much it."
Bone admitted she needs to learn to play each game night in and night out.
"I've got to learn how to play night in and night out. In high school, I didn't have to do that. I might play the first quarter this quarter and two quarters the next game and then the whole game the following game. So, I'm not real familiar with night in and night out having the competition because I'm used to just beating everybody by forty -- that's what we did in high school. College is a hard transition; but, it's one that I'm looking forward to and I'm up for the challenge."
posted by Kris Gardner @ 3:31 PM
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