| 11/20/2003 3:00:00 PM | Email this article • Print this article |
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| SIGNING DAY:
Madison’s Brittany Myers has signed a National Letter of Intent to play basketball at NCAA Division I Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn. Present at the signing with Myers (seated) were: Madison head coach Rich Bagienski, assistant principal Dan Heron, her father and mother, Chris Myers and Nancy Myers, and athletic director Ken Brunner. (Staff photo by David Campbell) |
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Division I Dreams
Belmont next destination for Cubs’ Myers
By: David Campbell
Courier Staff Writer
It’s been a long road for Brittany Myers and on Wednesday, she finally reached her destination.
The Madison Cubs senior basketball standout, who inked her named to a National Letter of Intent last week to play basketball at NCAA Division I Belmont University next year, held a signing ceremony at her school.
For Myers, it was the culmination of a dream come true.
“I wanted to go Division I. It was always my dream to play Division I basketball,” said Myers. “But I didn’t want to play at a weak Division I school just to say that I was playing. I wanted to play for a team that was competitive. Belmont is a mid-level Division I team, but they have finished third in their conference the last three years. Hopefully, I can be part of the team that puts them over the top.”
A sharp-shooting, 5-foot-9 guard with superior ball-handling skills, Myers’ Division I prospects have been unquestioned nearly from the moment she stepped on the floor as a freshman four years ago.
She averaged more than 20 points a game in both her freshman and sophomore seasons and ‘dipped’ to 19.8 last season after a late-season ankle injury.
It was that injury, plus an injured PCL during the summer AAU season, that almost derailed Myers’ Division I hopes. Several big schools, such as Auburn, Kent State and Old Dominion backed off Myers, causing headaches around the household.
But where one door closes, another opens. Just as several schools were signing other recruits, schools like Belmont shot into the mix. In fact, Myers hadn’t heard from the Nashville, Tenn., school until just three weeks ago.
But it didn’t take Myers long to be won over. Last week, she chose Belmont over Drake, DePaul, David Libscomb, Liberty and Brown — all Division I schools.
“I really liked the campus. It’s not a big campus and it has a small feel about it,” Myers said. “The coaching staff is awesome and I just liked everyone I met. I spent the night with a senior and they were all just great.”
Myers is one of three recruits signed by the Bruins in the early signing period, joining 6-foot-1 center Brooke Sunday of Sparta, Tenn., and guard Merideth Richardson, of Jackson, Tenn., who was Tennessee’s Class A Miss Basketball last year as a junior.
“I’m pleased with the three players we have added,” said Belmont head coach Tony Cross. “Brittany Myers is your typical guard from Indiana, she shoots the ball very well and is a fundamentally sound player who loves to play the game.”
Belmont finished second in the Atlantic Sun’s north division last season with a 19-10 record and returns much of its roster this season.
While Myers will get a look at the point, she will primarily play the two-spot and, she noted, the coaching staff is big on rewarding players for their play.
“The coach never tells recruits how much they are going to play,” Myers said. “Playing time is distributed on how you practice and how well you perform. I will get to play some and depending on how well I practice, will depend on my playing time the first year.”
Of course Myers will not go to college simply to play basketball. One of the highest ranking members of her class, she plans on a pre-med path and, to that end, will major in biology. That, as much as the basketball program, entered into her decision.
“They biology program is very strong,” said Myers. “I got a chance to meet the head of the biology department and he really knew what he was saying.”
With the signing out of the way, Myers’ senior season is now free to pursue the one goal she has wanted since her very first game. Although just 300 points away from the all-time scoring title in school history, Myers wants an elusive sectional title more.
“I can’t believe we’ve finally reached this day,” said Brittany’s father Chris. “This day has been coming since she was in sixth grade.”
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