Prospect Spotlight: Sameera Elmasri

<strong><span style="font-size: 18pt">Prospect Spotlight</span></strong> In this article we take a look at Prep Girls Hoops #64 ranked player for our 2021 class, <a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/sameera-elmasri/"><a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/sameera-elmasri/">Sameera Elmasri</a></a>. A 5'9 guard/forward for the St. Thomas Aquinas Saints and a member of KC Dream Basketball Club. January 15th a year ago while playing in a varsity basketball game for Mill Valley High School, Sameera would suffer a season-ending knee injury that would require surgery, recovery time, and tons of physical therapy. After a successful surgery weeks later, she'd start her long road to recovery. During her recovery, she'd transfer to Aquinas, where she looked for a fresh start. Sameera was fully cleared to return back to play without limitations in October of 2019. She currently is a starter on the defending State Champions in the class of 5A. I got into some Q &amp; A with Sameera to learn more about her and her basketball careers thus far. Q: How long have you been playing basketball? A: I have been playing basketball for as long as I can remember. I first began Club I moved back to America from Qatar. Q: Have you played any other sports previously and if so which was your favorite? A: I used to do gymnastics, and play volleyball and soccer as well as basketball. In Qatar, I trained for the Qatar national team, but moved back to the states and basketball became my everything. Q: What basketball club team are you apart of and why do you club ball is important? A: I play for KC Dream/Running Angels. I have played for Dream since 5th grade. Although, I started training with the program soon after I moved back to America. I think club ball is so important because it pushes me to grow not only as a person but as a player. It teaches me what it means to work hard and push past myself beyond my physical limitations, especially during back to back games at the major AAU tournaments. It also helps me improve my individual skills and become a more versatile and adaptable player. Club ball is also so important to me because it has allowed me to meet people with similar goals who I have built lifetime friendships with. Q: What was the hardest part of coming back from off of your knee injury? A: The hardest part of coming back from my knee injury was becoming comfortable on the court again and getting back my agility and lateral movements. Mentally, it was also tough to conquer the fear of any injuries, especially after such a long recovery. Overall, I believe that I am becoming more and more comfortable on the court and trusting in myself. Sameera combines both size and physicality at the guard position. Has deceptive speed and a good skill set to go along with it. A good perimeter shooter, that as she gets more consistent will be even more of a threat. A great passer, with great instincts that allow her to make quick decisions when looking to make the extra pass. A willing rebounder that gets into the trenches among bigs to battle for boards. Good defender both on-ball and help. Although an overall good player I wanted to know what Sameera felt she could work on to become a better player. <p style="text-align: center">"Overall, I hope to improve myself as a person by learning important values and concepts doing what I love on the court. In general, I hope to play to the best of my ability and improve in each game I play. For AAU, I hope to make a name for myself, as I aspire to play basketball at the collegiate level. For my school team at Aquinas, our goal is to win state, and grow as a team."</p> &nbsp; &nbsp;