Editors' Cut: Briana Bass

As you may now know, here at HSSTM, we plan in advance - well in advance. Sometimes I feel like our brainstorm meetings and conversations about an upcoming issue are like that new show, E: 60, on ESPN, where sports writers pitch ideas and track down the stories.

Needless to say, it felt somewhat odd when we sat down to plan out the January issue of High School Sports - The Magazine the week of Thanksgiving. Incredibly odd.

How do you plan for 2008 when there's still roughly 40 days left in 2007? Regardless, Dave McConnell and I fought through the urge to salivate over turkey and pumpkin pie that week and actually hone in one some of our story ideas for the first issue of the New Year.

When we got to talking about "Grill," my esteemed colleague suggested doing this Q & A section with an athlete instead of a coach. It wasn't the first time he had this idea, but with basketball season just starting and so many wonderful players to cover, it seemed like a good idea to try something different.

That's really one of the key things this magazine is about - being different and bringing our readers unique points of view that they won't find anywhere else.

And that's also how we decided to track down North Central's Briana Bass.

If you're going to do a lengthy sit-down interview with a high school athlete, it better be someone people will want to read about and have some knowledge of, but also have a desire to learn more about.

Briana was a perfect fit for what we wanted to do. With it being the middle of basketball season, why not showcase a four-year hoops star from Central Indiana?

What made it even more exciting was the fact the Briana has been through so much during her career at North Central: winning a state title her freshman year, a knee injury which caused her to miss a large portion of her sophomore year, committing to Tennessee after that sophomore season and her family connection to Jason Gardner, a former Indiana Mr. Basketball at North Central and an All-American at the University of Arizona.

I sat down with Briana in the office of North Central athletic director Chuck Jones. She was taking time out of class to come speak with me, so I was grateful for the time. Immediately, I was impressed by her maturity.

Bass has a bubbly personality - she was smiling throughout our conversation. I also noticed something else about her: she knows, loves and understands the game of basketball, more so than you might expect from a high school senior.

She rarely hesitated or stuttered when I asked her a question. She's obviously a leader and looks at that as a challenge and a responsibility.

"I've been playing varsity since my freshman year," said Bass. "I've been learning every year on how to be a leader, to truly be a senior and get people involved, keeping them happy and focused on our team goal of winning a state championship."

Shortly after our interview, when Briana was hurt by an errant elbow and had to miss most of the game, I was certain she wouldn't miss any time. In fact, the next day as Dave and I were reading about her injury and how painful it sounded, I told Mr. McConnell that I would bet Bass wouldn't miss any time. And she didn't.

Heading into 2008, Bass has North Central in a good position to compete for a state championship due to her tough-as-nails demeanor on the court. The Panthers were 10-2 heading into a Jan. 5 meeting with Ben Davis. It will be a terrific test for North Central and Bass - to see if they can overcome a prior 62-50 loss and make a statement in this, the final month of the 2007-08 regular season.

Bass is a scorer, averaging 20 points per game and shooting 78 percent from the foul line - but I got the impression during our time together that she truly enjoys involving her teammates and knows that as a guard and a senior leader, she has to manage both scoring and getting her teammates involved.

Dishing out five assists per game and grabbing over three steals per game backs up that theory, in my estimation. She handles the pressure of being both a ball handling guard and a scorer very well. It's a challenge to get other's continually involved in the offense and to, at the same time, look for ways to score.

But Bass is great at it because she's had four years of experience and knows that both duties bring her and the Panthers closer to their team goals - which it's clear to me that Bass takes more pride in than personal, individual achievement. Case in point, it took me three times to ask about her hopes of becoming Miss Basketball before she answered, somewhat shyly, that it is something she would accept graciously if awarded.

And that would best sum up Briana Bass: gracious.

Bass takes pride in passing down what she's learned from those who played the game before her and knows that this team at North Central will continue on after she leaves, so she feels a responsibility to leave it in good hands.

One of the best - and most likable quotes - I think I've ever had was at the tail end of this sit-down with Briana. I had asked her about the willingness to take a crucial, game winning shot and if she knew if those shots were going to drop before she took them.

"Yes," Bass said. "You can't have any doubt in your mind. You have to see it, believe it and make it happen."

That answer best exemplifies her character and her leadership, which again is something that really stuck out to me.

I got the sense that Briana has been humbled and honored by her upcoming opportunity to play at Tennessee for Pat Summitt, yet she's fiercely motivated by it at the same time. And it's certainly clear that there's a resolve in Briana to meet every challenge head on and because of that, she has been one of my favorite people to talk to.