Brittany Kelley
BALDWIN CITY — BriAnna Joy Garza, a 2010 Lehman High School graduate, was inducted into the Baker University Athletic Hall of Fame Friday, Sept. 25.
Garza grew up around sports, with her father being a football coach, and fell in love with basketball at a young age.
“Basketball was my first love. It was the first thing I was really, really good at and it’s still now this never ending journey toward growing better and better at a skill,” she said.
This opportunity to grow is what attracted her to the sport. She shared that it required “the audacity of self belief,” which stood out to her. It taught her “how to stare fear in the face and have a conversation with it, rather than letting it dictate what I do.”
It also offered room for spite, though whether or not this was healthy, she said, laughing, was up for debate.
“I had coaches tell me I was never going to make it, that I was never going to be good enough to play at the next level and those are the types of moments in your life, where either you make the easy choice to be defeated or the harder choice … to believe in [yourself],” Garza said.
While choosing to believe in herself was important, she shared that it was also difficult having everyone against her, which was her experience at Hays High School, where she was bullied. It wasn’t until she transferred to Lehman High School that she had the support she longed for.
“It was the first time I remember stepping into a space where everybody's arms were open and my coach, coach [Daniel] Pruess, at the time really gave me the keys to the whip and let me lead,” she recalled. “So, Lehman was the first place where somebody, some leader of mine, finally gave me the chance to step into a leadership position, which is all I really ever wanted to do.”
This initiative to lead would follow Garza to Baker University after she was recruited and offered a scholarship to continue basketball.
Her first year there, the team had a 20-win season, meaning that out of a 32 games, the team won 20. This was remarkable, she emphasized, as the team previously hadn’t even won half of its games in years.
One of the most memorable moments from her time at Baker was “the best bet [she] ever made.”
After the success of her junior year, she made a bet with the coach that she would take the team to nationals and when she did, he would offer her an additional semester scholarship, so that she could study abroad. Ultimately, she kept her end of the bargain and reached the Sweet 16.
Garza concluded her time at Baker University in 2015. She continued her sports career in education, earning a master’s in both sport psychology and education. From there, she began Shooters Shoot LLC, where she works as a professional student coach, teaching young players how to shoot basketballs.
She also has a nonprofit titled Changing the Game, which is currently running a Shoot Like a Girl campaign, focused on creating more access, resources and opportunities for girls.
More than a decade after graduating from Baker, she received a call from the assistant athletic director, letting her know that she would be inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame.
The university’s website notes that the Athletic Hall of Fame was crafted to honor its former athletes in order to foster the relationship between them. Nominees must have completed two full seasons, while those that have earned several letters, set records or won honors are given preference.
“Garza established herself as one of the top players in the NAIA, earning Heart of America Athletic Conference Player of the Year and NAIA All-American honors in 2013-14. In her senior season, she helped lead the Wildcats to a 27-7 record and the first NAIA Round of 16 appearance in program history. During that historic year, she scored 509 points, the third-highest mark in Baker women's basketball history and recorded 150 assists, the second-most in program history,” said the university. “Through her work [after graduating], Garza has continued to make a significant impact on the game of basketball as a coach, educator and entrepreneur."
“It means that all of those 12-hour drives my mom made from Kyle, Texas, to Kansas City didn’t go to waste,” she said, laughing.
Garza stated that she believes her approach to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics is what made her stand out, sharing that her “ball is life” mindset was not common amongst players. Additionally, she made sure to be active in the school community through attending games and participating in events, adding that she also regularly participated in the bowling tournaments.
“It’s a reinforcement of all of the things [I] talked about, like being told one thing or being made to believe that you weren’t going to achieve something or that you weren’t good enough for something and not letting that frustration dictate the choices I made. You have to learn the skill of overcoming [difficulty] to ripple into everything that you do. I think that this is the ultimate ripple,” she concluded.
