I have had the esteem privilege and pleasure of seeing this young lady grow and mature as a player since the age of 12. When she was entering into the 8th grade I saw her play against Charde Houston who is now a senior in college playing for the Connecticut Huskies. Even at such a tender age it was obvious that Brooklyn Pope was a special athlete. She has been a mainstay on the national summer circuit it seems forever. Brook received national notoriety during the summer of 2004. She was going to be in the 9th grade that upcoming school year. While at the Adidas Showtime National tournament she was voted to participate in their All-Star game. In that game Brook did something that hadn’t been done before at that tournament and that was attempt to dunk a basketball. Not just once but twice she attempted to throw it down. Each time she was right there and barely missed it. The thing was not that she missed but the fact that this soon to be 9th grader was trying to dunk on rising juniors and seniors. From that moment she began a quest on being a constant highlight reel of excitement and athleticism. Brook will be entering into her last year of high school this upcoming school year and some lucky college will be gaining a player who is a proven winner. This summer while playing for DFW Elite she was a part of winning one National Championship and playing in the finals of every tournament her team played in.

Who gets offered Division I scholarships?
When my daughter initially expressed an interest in playing college ball, I really wondered if she would get the chance. To ensure she knew what her chances were of garnering a scholarship to a Division I school, I began trending what kind of girls received Division I scholarships based on height 4 years ago. My daughter is diminutive in size however she plays bigger than her ‘5-4” frame. Unfortunately, we as parents sometimes have a hard time accepting the realities of college recruiting. Over the last 4 years my statistics have been rather consistent regarding the height of players receiving scholarships. The following is a percentage breakdown of what I have found on what kinds of girls play Division I according to height over the last 4 years.

__ Joseph Micheal Samuels