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Waynesville junior Breona Hurd remembers the moment she heard the Missouri State Lady Bears would need a new head coach. “I went to my grandma crying,” Breona said. “I said, ‘She moved, I don’t know what to do.'”
But it turns out that Amaka Agugua-Hamilton leaving MSU for Virginia was a good thing for Breona. “And then, like a couple of weeks later, she called me and was like, ‘Just know you’re always welcome.'”
One official visit later, she’s officially committed to the Cavalier program. But the first-team all-state forward selection is also just barely halfway through her high school career. And she’s not just committed to her basketball team. “Especially during the Spring when I play two sports and travel with AAU basketball,” she said.
She plays three other sports for the Tigers. “My favorite is basketball,” Breona said. “And then volleyball, and then soccer and track are tied because they’re both running.”
“She wants to try it all and do it all,” said Waynesville Head Coach Brittany Matlock. “She’s even told me, ‘Coach, I’m going to do wrestling,’ and I’m like, ‘Girl!’ She’d probably be great at it.”
Still, she somehow finds time for hobbies. “Oh yeah, she can cook,” Matlock said.
It turns out Breona averages 22 points and ten rebounds every game. And at least one self-prepared dinner a week. “Pan-seared steak with fried potatoes,” said Breona. “And I’ve been trying this little fried rice and shrimp thing.”
Breona is also cooking up a leadership style that’s resonating with the five freshmen and six newcomers on this Tiger team. “It’s fun to watch that,” Matlock said. “Watch her have those interactions with the young kids.”
She does that while still pushing toward several goals of her own. “To get to 1,000 points,” Breona said. “Maybe 2,000 when I graduate. And just hang out with my friends.”
“I’m excited to see what lies ahead for her,” Matlock said. “I don’t think she’s reached her peak.”
