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w o m e n ��� s b a s k e t b a l l r e c r u i t i n g : B r e e H o r r o c k s Biding Her Time Commitment showing improvements in junior season BY KYLE CHARTERS KCharters@GoldandBlack.com syp and Co. enough to earn an offer. It didn���t take her long to accept, doing so before she had even left campus. In doree Horrocks is trying to make up ing so, she became Purdue���s first, and as for lost time. of mid-February only, commitment in the After missing most of her sophomore 2014 class. season, the 2014 Purdue commitment Horrocks had offers then from Georis healthy now and more than willing to gia and Southern Mississippi and likely spend extra hours in the gym working on would have picked up more ��� Memphis her game. and Maryland were showing interest The 6-foot-4 post was especially dil�����had she decided to wait. igent following the injuries a year ago But having made her choice, Hor��� first it was an ankle sprain that siderocks is happy to focus on basketball, lined her, then a broken foot ��� as she particularly after losing all but a couple worked to get back on the court as quickweeks of her sophomore year. ly as possible. ���It was very frustrating,��� she said. ���Both times when I came back, I ���It was a lot on me emotionally because would stay after practice,��� said Horwhen I came back from my sprained anrocks, the daughter of former NBA player kle, I knew exactly what I needed to do John Horrocks, a 1984 draftee of the Daland I went ahead and did it and was putlas Mavericks after his career at North ting in the work for it. Then, my ankle Texas State. ���I would have my dad come. hadn���t fully healed and I broke my foot. He would kind of beat me around a little Having to sit out and watch when I could with some boxing gloves or a pad and have helped was extremely frustrating.��� he would make me shoot over him; he���s Horrocks was back to full health by 7-feet tall, so if I can shoot over him then the summer AAU season and played well I can shoot over anybody pretty much.��� enough then to impress Purdue���s staff, A year removed from the injuries, before settling in for what would be her Horrocks is seeing the benefit of her hard first full varsity season at Buford. work. Even on a team as stacked as BuAfter the season �����the Lady Wolves ford High School. The Georgia state girls are seeking their fourth Class AA state hoops power has five seniors, four of title in the last five seasons after finishwhom have signed to play collegiately, ining runners-up a year ago �����Horrocks cluding at Notre Dame and Georgia Tech. plans to continue to work. She wants to Buford coach Gene Durden says Horbecome a better rebounder, comparing rocks has made significant strides on her seven rebounds per game average the offensive end. to the double-digit rebounds pulled in Lily McGregor this season by current Boilermaker ���She���s done a great job of scoring around the bucket, but she���s also doing a Bree Horrocks, a 2014 Purdue commitment, has been a big part of Buford���s Sam Ostarello. good job facing up, shooting 15-foot jump run toward another state championship this season, after missing most of ���She���s been working extremely hard last year with injuries. shots,��� Durden said. ���She has really done in the weight room and extremely hard sively than offensively,��� the Atlanta area native a good job of finding open teammates, in physical therapy,��� Durden said. ���That���s the said. ���And now I���ve gathered myself and been because she���s always drawing double teams.��� great thing about Bree, she���s going to always Although Horrocks is averaging only about able to use my size and length and speed to score continue to try to improve. eight points per game, she���s becoming far more more and run the floor, and play more of the pow���She has a tremendous upside.��� effective on the offensive end than in years past. er forward position rather than center this year. Horrocks will likely be able to show that soon, ���I���ve got my touch back (from before the inju���I came into the season being stronger defentoo. After the season, Buford graduates its four ries) and have moves in the senior D-I players, allowing Horrocks to step into paint, but if I step out on the a bigger role next year. Up Next perimeter and you leave me ���She���s going to be one of foundation players 2013 Signees open, I���m going to shoot the that we���ve got to have a lot of different things Name Pos. Ht. Hometown/High School ball. So far I���ve been hitting from,��� Durden said. ���This year being a huge part Ashley Morrissette G 5-9 Twinsburg, Ohio/Twinsburg them consistently.��� of our team has been big for her, but next year Bridget Perry G/F 6-2 Indianapolis/Roncalli Horrocks was an early she���s going to have to take another step in her commitment to the Boilerdevelopment because we���re going to challenge 2014 Commitment makers, visiting for Purdue���s her to do even more.��� j Name Pos. Ht. Hometown/High School elite camp over the summer Bree Horrocks F 6-4 Buford, Ga./Buford when she wowed Sharon Ver- B 56 ��� Gold & Black IllustrateD ��� volume 23, issue 4 GBIprint.com GoldandBlack.com