he said. Im not going to dance around. Im going to b he said. Im not going to dance around. Im going to b | Forum

On the way to visit a friend last month, Naje Murray pulled over to the side of the road. Sione Takitaki Womens Jersey . She felt lost, but it wasnt because she didnt know the route by heart. Her mom had just called and delivered the news that Murray had been dreading.Murray needed ACL surgery on her right knee, meaning shed miss most, if not all, of her upcoming senior basketball season at St. Marys High School in Stockton, California.I lost it, said Murray, a 5-foot-6 shooting guard on a St. Marys team that has won 57 of its past 58 games. To say I was sobbing is an understatement.Murrays injury occurred on July 3 while playing AAU ball for her Cal Stars team in a tournament in Oregon. Murray went up to block a shot, but her knee buckled immediately after landing.It was a freak accident, said Murray, 17. I fell and I screamed.A parent and two Oregon State University trainers carried Murray off the court, and she saw her knee swell almost immediately.Despite fearing the worst, Murray says she was in denial, strapping on a knee brace and warming up for every game the Cal Stars played in their next tournament, in Tennessee. Even though she was limping around, she got in for a couple of minutes each game.But during a July 18 practice, Murray reinjured her knee. Enough was enough.Murray underwent an MRI on July 21, and the news she received later that day devastated her.She gathered herself enough, however, to send a group text to her high school teammates, letting them know what had happened.At first I thought she was joking, said Jada Moss, a sophomore guard at St. Marys. I didnt want to believe it. I said, Are you serious?She was our shooter. Now were going to have to change a lot of things and work even harder.Tom Gonsalves, who has coached St. Marys to an incredible 119-11 record over the past four years, said Murrays injury is a major loss.Its just sad because she is so passionate about the game, Gonsalves said. Shes a really good 3-point shooter, an outstanding athlete and a phenomenal leader.Shes a tough kid. Even though its difficult for her to handle not playing, there is no question she will rebound from this.Gonsalves paid Murray a huge compliment by comparing her leadership skills to those of former St. Marys and Duke guard Chelsea Gray, who is now playing in the WNBA with the Los Angeles Sparks.Other than Chelsea, we havent had too many kids arrive on campus with Najes ability to lead others, Gonsalves said. Naje knows how to compete. And when you talk to her, its like youre talking to an adult.Moss said Murray is a very caring person. But Murray -- like most teenagers -- also is prone to the occasional goofy decision.Such was the case in March, when the girls went to a Panda Express drive-through. Murray, though, changed her mind and decided she wanted to eat inside the restaurant -- so she backed up, damaging the right rear tire on her white Ford Fusion, which hit the median.That minor issue aside, Murrays choices are usually on point. She has a 4.2 GPA and is interested in studying criminal justice; she is interested in a career as an FBI profiler.Murray grew up rooting for the Los Angeles Lakers. Among college teams, she used to cheer for Stanford, but she said Stanfords style of play is too slow for her now.I put San Diego State No. 1, Murray said, and everyone else who has offered me [a basketball scholarship] is tied for second right now.Murray said she and her father, an assistant football coach and defensive coordinator at a California junior college (San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton), will talk it out and settle on five schools to visit this fall before signing during the November early period.But theres more to Murray than just basketball. Last month, she and her family visited the childhood home of the late civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. The visit to Kings home and former church inspired Murray, whose mother, Natalia, is black, and whose father, Doug, is white. Like a lot of teens, she went to social media to share her thoughts.Shes not shy about sharing such thoughts on the stunning end to her junior season at St. Marys either. Ranked No. 1 in the nation, St. Marys was on the losing end of one of the biggest upsets in California girls basketball history, falling 72-69 to Pinewood (Los Altos, California) in the California Interscholastic Federation Open Division regional semifinals.If we played Pinewood 100 times, we would have beaten them 99, Murray said. But on that night, they were on fire. I think if they had shot backward, they would have made every one.We underrated them, and we deserved to lose.That overconfidence, Murray said, stemmed from the fact that St. Marys had beaten Pinewood by about 25 points in the summer. And St. Marys was missing two of its best players, MiCole Cayton and Kat Tudor, when it won that summer game.Now those stars are off to college -- Cayton to Cal and Tudor to Oregon State -- and Murray, of course, is injured.But St. Marys still has 6-2 forward Aquira DeCosta, the No. 6 prospect in the espnW HoopGurlz rankings for the 2018 class.With Aquiras inside presence and how well Naje shoots outside, we had a good thing going, Gonsalves said. Losing Naje, if indeed we lose her, will impact us quite a lot.Murray hopes St. Marys can capture that feeling it had last season, when the bond among teammates was unbreakable. Not even the final loss broke their friendship.Last year was the best year of basketball Ive ever had, Murray said. We had two superstars who were big-time Pac-12 recruits, and yet we were still this close and tightly connected as a team.We had a lot of hate on us because we were No. 1 in the nation. But it was a cool thing. As soon as we walked into a [road] gym, everyone almost got silent.They knew who we were. We heard them whisper. It blew our heads up a bit -- Im not going to lie. But most of the time, we were like, Hey, were just a bunch of normal teenage girls. St. Marys might be a bit more normal this coming season without Tudor, Cayton and -- temporarily at least -- Murray.But Murray promises she wont abandon her team.I will be there at every practice and at every game, Murray said. Everyone is expecting that St. Marys wont be that good this year. But I told the girls, Hey, we need to dig down deep. Baker Mayfield Browns Jersey . The 18-year-old American had five birdies in her bogey-free round for a 17-under total of 196. Lee held the overnight lead but mixed three birdies with two bogeys for a 70. Austin Seibert Youth Jersey . Isner, ranked No. 14, won his eighth career singles title and took the title in New Zealand for the second time after his victory in 2010. The match was similar to Isners quarterfinal victory over fifth-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber which went to three sets, all tiebreaks and contained no breaks of serve. http:///...kitaki-Elite-Jersey/ . With the first unit struggling of late and Amir Johnson - one of the teams iron men - hobbling on an injured right ankle, Patterson knew he could get the nod in a challenging matchup against one of the leagues up and coming players at his position. HOUSTON -- The Houston Cougars are picking up the pieces after coach Tom Herman bolted for Texas this weekend. Interim coach Todd Orlando has taken over to prepare them for their bowl game while the administration looks for a new coach to try and build on the progress Herman made in two seasons.Orlando, who was Houstons defensive coordinator under Herman, thinks the Cougars will be just fine.These kids have battled through a whole bunch of things this year and theyve always responded, he said. Theyve never let us down. Theyve always gone at it with a great attitude and I dont expect that to change.Orlando acknowledged that there was some disappointment among players in the wake of Hermans departure to take over for Charlie Strong, who was fired the same day Herman was hired . He said he spoke to the team all together before they broke into position groups to further discuss the change. The upperclassmen dealt with the move better than many of his freshman and sophomores, who had counted on Herman to be there throughout their time in Houston.He said those players really bought into Hermans culture and embraced the catchy slogan termed H-Town Takeover he used to boost the teams profile on social media.My concern is for the young guys, the young guys that were part of the H-Town Takeover and them analyzing things and I see it in their face, Orlando said. But I do feel comfortable that it is better after a couple of days.Herman led the Cougars to a 13-1 record last season and a trip to the Peach Bowl before helping them to a 9-3 record this season which included wins over Oklahoma and Louisville, who were both ranked third at the time. He isnt the first coach to propel Houston back into to national spotlight before leaving for a more high-profile job.Kevin Sumlin coached the Cougars for four seasons before leaving for Texas A&M. He helped them to a 12-1 record in 2011. He made them a national contender for the first time since the 1980s before many lean years after the Southwest Conference disbanded in 1995 and they werent invited to join the Big 12 or Southeastern Conference.Tony Levine took over for Sumlin, but was unable to replicate his success. He was fired in 2014 after going 7-5 to clear the way for Herman to take over after serving as offensive coordinator for Ohio State when the team won the national title that year. Austin Seibert Womens Jersey. Now they have to search for a new coach yet again. Orlando said he and offensive coordinator Major Applewhite will both interview for the job, and athletics director Hunter Yurachek promised a national search to find a coach to maintain our programs national prominence.For Orlando and his staff preparing for the bowl game comes second to ensuring they dont lose their top recruits following Hermans departure.I told the staff: `Youre going to see every one of our commitments and I dont care if you have to stay at school for five hours and stay in their house for four hours, he said. It doesnt matter. Theres nobody more important than those committed kids and its the stability part of it. I want to make sure they understand were business as usual.Orlando has been impressed with some public support many of his players have shown for the team in the last few days, and none meant more than one from defensive tackle Ed Oliver . The freshman, who is Houstons best player and one of the top defensive tackles in the country, first joked on Twitter that he was declaring for the draft even though that isnt possible, before sending a second tweet that ended with I aint going nowhere.Hes been great, Orlando said. Theres one thing about that guy and its that he loves this place. I think hes got a little bit of a chip on his shoulder to say you know what: `Ill carry us a little bit. Were OK. Time to adjust and see what happens.Herman did a variety of things to bond with his players, namely getting a diamond encrusted grill made by Houston rapper Paul Wall after they won the American Athletic Conference title last season. While Orlando is committing to keeping a good relationship with his players, he was quick to point out that his style would be far different than his predecessor.Im not going to wear a grill, he said. Im not going to dance around. Im going to be me.---More AP college football at www.collegefootball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25 Wholeslae Jerseys NFL Jerseys Cheap Wholesale NBA Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys Cheap MLB Jerseys Wholesale Soccer Jerseys Cheap College Jerseys Cheap Football Jerseys Cheap Basketball Jerseys Cheap Baseball Jerseys ' ' '