Waynesville’s Breona Hurd talks to former Missouri State head coach Amaku Agugua-Hamilton once a week. “We’ll do check-ins,” said Breona. “I’ll tell her how my week goes and she’ll tell me how her week goes.”
And her future head coach at Virginia supports her as she takes on not only basketball, but three other sports. “She’s like, ‘Oh, good luck today,'” Breona said. “Or she’ll just support me. She’ll say, ‘You got it.’ I’ll tell her about the game. Sometimes it’s funny.”
So while she prepares for her college basketball career she’s also playing volleyball in the fall, running track in the spring, And playing soccer as the goalie for Waynesville. “When you first see a keeper and you have a presence at 6-foot-4, and obviously good hands from basketball, you have a good indication that it might be a success in the goal,” said John Box, Waynesville’s head girls soccer coach.
But first Box had to convince Breona to step into the net. “Last year I kept saying, ‘I don’t want to be keeper, I don’t want to be keeper,'” Breona said.
But there were some things she liked. ” The punts,” Breona said. I like the punts because I’ve got a pretty good leg.”
And positive affirmation was key. “I’ll make a save and Coach Box will give a thumbs up,” Breona said.
Still, it’s not all easy. Like having to defend those corner kicks and penalty kicks. “I have to guess where the ball’s going,” Breona said. “I’m not a very good guesser.”
But it’s a good guess that in a world where specialization in one sport is so common among the best players, that Breona is saving that time for later. “With all sports there’s different types of players and different people in each sport,” Breona said. “And I have a bond with each person on a different team. So I put my heart into it and I hang out with my friends.”
“We all love Bre,” Box said. “She does a great job for everybody. She does give everything she has. We’re happy to have her. She is a leader. Her teammates look up to her. Both figuratively and literally.”
And just like Coach Box, Coach Mox will be happy to have her at Virginia.
