Four-year starter Grays finalizing stellar prep career with Pearland
Deflecting attention from herself is much more important to RyLee Grays than swatting shots intended for the basketball rim. That’s simply the nature of the 6-foot-3 Pearland basketball player, who is finalizing her high school career as a four-year starter.
Her firm foundation begins with parents Corey and Danyeal, who met as basketball players at Saint Louis University after Corey (San Angelo Central) and Danyeal (Clear Brook) enjoyed success at the high school level. RyLee’s sister, Kori, preceded her by four years as a starter for the Lady Oilers.
“I come from a basketball family,” said RyLee, who is committed to North Carolina. “Both my parents played, so it’s like a requirement in our household. But it wasn’t until sixth or seventh grade when I knew I wanted it to be a career. That’s when I realized, through getting a little recognition, that I could really do this.”
Entering seventh grade, Grays was already 6 feet tall.
“My coordination in seventh grade was really bad,” she said with a laugh. “But it’s gotten a little better. I would spend most of my days on the floor as a result of just falling down. My junior year, I grew into my body some, but even now, I’m still on the floor a lot.”
Because of her size and potential, Grays was already attracting attention from recruiters in junior high school. But her talent was raw, and her skill level was far from developed. Even in eighth grade, basketball wasn’t a priority 100 percent of the time.
“Coming out of eighth grade, I wanted to go to a boarding school,” Grays said, “but my parents absolutely did not want me going there. I went to a summer camp that was at a boarding school, and I loved it, and I still do.”
As a result, Pearland High School would not benefit from Grays’ talents during her freshman and sophomore years.
“I was adamant about going to The Village (a private school in Houston) when I couldn’t go to a boarding school,” Grays said. “It was a compromise. Fortunately, I really enjoyed it there, met a lot of new people at The Village, and it was a good experience.”
RyLee’s father, an assistant coach for the Lady Oiler varsity team, recounts her decision to attend the Village.
“Academically, she was a little ahead coming out of junior high,” Corey said, “and The Village had a STEM program she really liked, so that’s why she went over there. She won a state championship her freshman year, and her second season their team got to the state title game and lost.”
Grays, the second-leading scorer on both teams, and was part of a squad that featured Jada Malone, a 6-3 power forward who is now a sophomore at Texas A&M.
After her sophomore campaign, Grays took her talents to Pearland out of necessity.
“The Village is far (from Pearland),” Corey said “It’s in west Houston, almost to Katy. It was an hour drive every morning for my wife and then an hour drive back. And then my mother-inlaw wound up getting sick, and it was just too much.”
Under new coach Jere Adams, Pearland fashioned a 28-10 record in Grays’ junior season and, to the surprise of many, advanced to the Region 3-6A title game, where it lost 59-42 to Summer Creek.
“I could not have asked for a better first year,” Adams said. “First of all, I was extremely blessed for the opportunity, and then you look up, and you’re in the regional finals. Coming in as a new coach, you’re starting a new relationship. There were so many things that were unknown on both sides. This season, after the success that we had last year, the buy-in was extremely easy.”
With the onset of the playoffs, Grays is happy to have the recruiting process behind her.
“Honestly, it’s still hard to envision now that I’m going to play college basketball,” the future Tar Heel said. “In three months, I’m going to be gone from here. I think I got my first offer in seventh grade just for being tall. From about seventh to 10th grade, I was thinking about going to the University of Texas.”
However, a visit from then Alabama assistant coach Adrian Walters during her eighth-grade season resonated with Grays.
“Coach Walters was one of the first coaches to come to one of my games,” she said. “Then he moved to the North Carolina basketball program. “When I had my official and unofficial visits to North Carolina, the players and coaches were great. I loved them all, and I loved the state of North Carolina. It’s just beautiful.”
Pearland, which is 30-3 and holds a No. 4 state ranking, began what it hopes is a lengthy playoff ride when met Clear Springs in a bi-district game Monday night at Clear Lake High School’s Krueger Fieldhouse. Last year’s loss to Summer Creek, one step short of the state tournament, still stings.
“Nobody wants to lose, but that game put us on the path to get where we are now,” Grays said. “We know what it takes. We have returners and people who have been in that position before.”
All of Pearland’s starters — Grays, senior guards Janae Tucker and Paige Bonner, junior guard Nyah Hardy and junior forward La’Niah Thornton — were on that Lady Oilers varsity squad a year ago.
“We’ve worked in that environment,” Grays said. “We had younger guards, and now they’re seniors. We know when to score and when to hold the ball. We’re a lot better with situational maturity.”
While Grays is double- and triple-teamed every game, she doesn’t regard herself as the centerpiece of the team.
“Janae and Paige lead this team because they always have the ball, and they do take a stand,” Grays said. “For the most part, everyone holds each other accountable on this team. We’re all pretty levelheaded.”
As head coach, Adams gets to see every day what others don’t in Grays.
“The thing that impresses me is her high motor,” Adams said. “RyLee moves really well with a lot of energy and intensity. She has great leadership skills, too. Getting to watch her with the younger players and explain things to them and coach them up … that’s a talent not everybody has.”