William Monroe’s Sam Brunelle will represent the United States on the U-17 women’s basketball team, joining 11 other U.S. high school students in a quest to win the FIBA U-17 World Championship.
“I don’t know what’s going through my head,” Brunelle told USA Basketball Thursday. “It is spinning in so many directions, but for great reasons. “
The U-17 team was announced late Thursday night, and Brunelle was the lone member of the class of 2019 to make the squad, though two other 15 year olds did make the cut in Winder, GA’s Olivia Nelson-Ododa and Marietta, GA’s Jenna Brown. Only two players on the 12-player squad is shorter than 5-foot-10 and the squad includes 6-foot-4 Ododa and 6-foot-7 Sedona Prince playing center.
“We all clicked together,” Brunelle said. “You could put any five together, and we could play together. The chemistry is already there. Everyone is highly skilled, and we are a big team.”
Brunelle, a 6-foot-2 forward, was the Scrimmage Play newcomer of the year after averaging 25.0 points and 17.3 rebounds per game for the Dragons this winter.
“I thought my eyes were going to come out of the sockets,” Brunelle said upon hearing the final team roster announcement. “It’s such a great feeling that’s really hard to describe.”
