NEW MARKET -— Southmont’s Isabelle Miller will continue her academic and basketball career at Briar Cliff University in Sioux City, IA while majoring in elementary education. Miller made it official on Wednesday afternoon with many friends, family, and coaches in attendance.
Miller who is a two-sport athlete at Southmont playing soccer along with basketball talked about the decision to continue her basketball career.
“I just have a deep love for the game of basketball,” Miller said. “I’ve been playing it for as long as I can remember, and have put a lot of dedication and time into it. It was a pretty easy choice for me.”
Briar Cliff Women’s basketball plays at the NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) level, and competes in the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC).
“I loved their campus when I took a visit out there, and their coaches are amazing,” Miller added. “The team was super sweet and inviting also.”
Second-year Southmont girls basketball coach Dan Burkman saw the signing as a great moment for the program and talked about he sees Miller fitting in at the next level.
“She’s a very versatile player and can do many things pretty well,” he said. “She’s always been a leader for us on the court and is showing signs of maturity, which tells me she’s ready to move on.”
While most seniors wait unitl the mid-point or even the end of their season to make their official college decision, Miller saw the chance to get this done before her season started so she can solely focus on her upcoming senior year.
“I know now that I can just look forward to enjoying my senior season,” she said. “I don’t have to worry about any other distractions. Getting it out of the way now was good for me so I can focus on high school. When the time comes, I can shift my focus to college and begin that new chapter.”
Miller will be relied on in a big way for the Mounties this upcoming season after losing five seniors from a season ago.
“I’m going to be asking her to a lot of different things for us,” Burkman said. “I hope some of our younger girls take notice of this so they can hopefully be in Belle’s shoes one day and achieve what’s she’s achieved and use it as inspiration.”
