San Antonio Sam Houston with plenty of pluses #SouthTexasClassic

Sam Houston means so many things to me other than the obvious. They were a district rival in my day, don’t ask, don’t tell, I love seeing the "big white man" on my trips to Dallas, they have a giant statue of the general and I even worked with one of his direct descendants that is the spitting image of the man. Houston Sam Houston’s girl’s basketball hasn’t made the playoffs since I’ve been paying attention around the turn of the century but I got a pleasant surprise from the one from San Antonio at the South Texas Classic. [caption id="attachment_100793" align="alignleft" width="300"] [player_tooltip player_id="137472" first="Kaliyah" last="Brown"][/caption] The first player that caught my eye was 2020 [player_tooltip player_id="137472" first="Kaliyah" last="Brown"], a 5’10 forward that just overpowers opponents and watching her start the event off was more than a pleasant surprise. She finished with contact, sometimes with multiple defenders hanging on her but as the game progressed, I couldn’t stop watching fellow senior [player_tooltip player_id="137469" first="Khadija" last="Derry"], 5’4 PG whose hesitation and stutter-step in the open court told me a lot. She attacks the basket relentlessly, plays taller than she is and elevates over defenders for her jumper. I added her to mini-story on my <a href="http://girlzprepreport.blogspot.com/2019/09/size-dont-matter-players-one-of-many.html">blog</a> about #sizedontmatter if you can play &nbsp; [caption id="attachment_100797" align="alignright" width="300"] [player_tooltip player_id="134063" first="Amya" last="Miller-Sullivan"][/caption] Both players were added to the Texas Top 100 2020 plus, which means talent is everywhere and year after year there are over 100 players that play D1 basketball and countless that go on to play at the next level but they weren’t the only ones added. [player_tooltip player_id="134063" first="Amya" last="Miller-Sullivan"] caught my eye almost immediately by what she was doing without the ball, those intangibles that don’t show up on the score sheet sometimes elude the novice evaluator but that’s one thing I’m not and her upside, as well pull-up jumper combined with her athleticism and understanding how to create her shot as well as attack the rim place the 5’9 forward on the 2023 Watch List. Several other players caught my eye, 2021 Raishawn Smith was dropping the long ball, sometimes off balance and the 5’7 guard showed she could put the ball in the basket multiple ways