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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 All The Tools Versatile McBryde prepping for Purdue BY KYLE CHARTERS KCharters@GoldandBlack.com B efore hitting a growth spurt after her eighth grade season, Dominique McBryde was a guard, doing most of her scoring from the perimeter. But that didn't last. In only a short time, she sprouted to more than 6-foot, forcing an adjustment to new surroundings. During her freshman season at Bedford North Lawrence — her family moved to southern Indiana from Indianapolis Pike Township — McBryde shifted down low, focusing more in the paint. But last season, and even more so now, the Purdue commitment has gradually expanded her game back outward. It's helped to create a versatile 6-foot-2 forward whom ESPN ranks as the 20th-best player nationally in the 2015 class. "Before I moved to Bedford, I was an outside shooter," McBryde said. "And then when I moved to Bedford, I became more of an inside player. But now that I'm going back to it (on the outside), I'm definitely comfortable again. "I usually have a big (guarding) me, but when they find out I can run down the floor and drive to the basket from the outside, they switch to a guard on me. It gets confusing for them." But confusing for them is great for Bedford North Lawrence. The No. 1-ranked Class 4A Stars are undefeated through mid-Decem78 IllustrateD volume 24, issue 3 Phil Knight-HHC Sports Dominique McBryde is leading Bedford North Lawrence to an undefeated start. ber, as they look to repeat as Indiana state champions. And McBryde and a host of other Division I talent — senior guard Alexa Bailey is signed with Butler; junior center Jenna Allen is committed to Indiana; and senior guard Brittani Rizzi led the state in three-pointers last season — aim to get there. BNL's undefeated start includes a Thanksgiving holiday victory over Ohio's Kettering Fairmont, then the nation's eighth-ranked team. And it keeps the Stars' hopes alive for back-to-back undefeated records; only one other school, Ben Davis, has accomplished the feat in Indiana girls' basketball history. "Our goal this year is to go backto-back state championships," McBryde said, "undefeated." McBryde is a centerpiece; as a junior, she's averaging 16.9 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.1 assists (through seven games) on a balanced Stars' team. She scored 19 in BNL's win over Fort Wayne South Side in the title game last season and had 12 in the 53-40 victory at Kettering Fairmont, the defending Ohio state champion. "Fortunately for her and fortunately for Purdue, she continues to get better," Bedford North Lawrence coach Damon Bailey said. "She's a very, very active wing player that from a skillset standpoint can do everything: She can handle it, she can shoot it, she can drive it. … She's at the top as far as what kids can and can't do with the basketball." Those traits allow McBryde to hurt opponents in a variety of ways. Put a smaller guard on her, and she's likely to force the action inside; put a taller defender on her, and she's likely to move to the perimeter and dribble right by. "I can cause both of those mismatch problems," she said. Purdue noticed early. McBryde says she started attending Purdue's summer basketball camps years ago, with Coach Sharon Versyp talking to her on one occasion prior to her eighth grade year. "And that's when she started showing interest in me," McBryde said. "There's something about that campus, the school, the team, that just kept making me want to go back there every year. They saw f