Mcdaniel looks to take passion for game south

Basketball has been a passion for Brianna Mcdaniel for most of her life and her parents can trace it back to her being a 5-year-old a part of the Lady Dribblers in Chicago.

Brianna was balancing tumbling and dancing with her early development on the basketball court. There was a feeling early on from her mom that this could become much more than just a brief stint. She would toss her dancing shoes for sneakers and it was all basketball all the time from there.

“There was nothing that we could do to keep her out of the gym,” Brianna’s mother Shamona said. “Playing with girls older than her made her really aggressive.”

Fast forward over a decade later, Mcdaniel has become one of the most recruited players in the country. The Chicago native was offered first by Wisconsin as a freshman and more offers followed from Texas A&M, Depaul, Marquette, Kansas State, Minnesota, Missouri, Texas Tech, Purdue, Michigan State, Miami, Clemson, Michigan, Georgia, Vanderbilt, Florida, Louisville, Texas and countless others.

Mississippi State was also among those offers back in October of 2020 and the Bulldogs immediately made the cut from 38 schools down to 15. On Thursday, that list was narrowed down all the way to five and State is still there along with Georgia, Louisville, Texas A&M and Texas. It hasn’t been an easy process for the family to navigate to find the best schools to focus in on, but those five stood out.

“I think that the recruitment has gone really well,”

Shaman said. “She had about 38 offers so it was really difficult cutting everything down. All of the coaches were great. Everybody was very interested and gave us a great view of the school. It was difficult during COVID, but they’ve been creative doing presentations or taking us around the school on Zoom.”

Mcdaniel is rated a fourstar by ESPN and the 5-11 guard is No. 4 in the country at her position and No. 30 overall. Mcdaniel plays her hoops at Kenwood Academy where she averaged 12.6 points per game, 6.2 rebounds, 3.6 assist and 1.9 steals a game as a freshman.

Last year as a sophomore, Mcdaniel took a step up and averaged 18 points a game, 6.4 boards, 4.2 assists and 3.1 steals. She possesses the ability to shoot the ball but also to get in the paint and power her way to a finish. Her aggressiveness and physicality along with the athleticism that she has makes her a mismatch.

With her skill set has brought suitors from around the country and it’s got her set on leaving the state of Illinois and going south. It’s something that the family has decided is perfectly fine with them.

“I think she’s very comfortable with being able to branch out and go away from home,” Shamona said. “She knows that myself and her dad will support her wherever. We’ve always taught her that there’s a big world out there. We’ll be proud of her wherever she goes and we’re willing to support her. She wants to go somewhere warm and all of those places are warmer than Chicago.”

MSU was the last of the group to get in the game with Mcdaniel, but it hasn’t altered her opinion of their

program. She’s already hit it off with coach Nikki Mccraypenson and Shamona has been impressed with the accolades that the coach has accumulated over the years.

On top of that, she believes in the vision that Mccray-penson has set for her own program despite some recent struggles.

“I followed coach Mccray as a player and then as a coach at Old Dominion and Mississippi State,” Shamona said. “She seems to take a very hands-on approach with her players. I’ve been really impressed with her knowledge of the game since she’s been recruiting Bri. I really feel comfortable with her teaching style. She’s always made the conversations comfortable with us and it’s almost like you’re talking to a family member.

“We know that

this

is coach Mccray’s first year and Vic Schaefer had the program previously so we know that about their program. Bri wants to be a large animal vet so we wanted to make sure that she was at a school that supports that and MSU definitely has that.”

Mcdaniel doesn’t plan to take too long to make her decision. The family plans on taking some trips to see the schools on their own if need be because Brianna, as Shamona said, doesn’t want to attend a college she’s never seen.

By late summer, the talented playmaker believes she’ll have her decision made. There are a few things that she wants to check off first before picking her team.

“Feeling very comfortable with the coaching staff and the players since we can’t be in front of everybody is one thing,” Shamona said. “We’re also continuing to watch the program grow over the course of the year.”