Smooth as silk or edgy as a jitterbug, take your pick. Brian January can be a lot of things in a lot of situations. The pure point guard from Spokane's Lewis and Clark High School was recently named MVP of the End of the Trail Tournament held at Oregon City, Oregon, and it wasn't just for her scoring. Briann is quite possibly the finest point guard to come out of Spokane and she has dozens of schools offering her scholarships, including Gonzaga.
The super athletic floor general does everything a point guard is supposed to do. And she does them well. With her quickness, January can penetrate, collapse defenses and kick it out to wide open shooters. Or she'll take it all the way and lay it up if the defense expects the kick out. Defenses are "damned if they do and damned if they don't" when facing the many dilemmas Briann poses.
As good as her offensive package is as she enters her senior year, Briann is a defensive nightmare too. Her natural athleticism enables her to drive opposing guards crazy as she pesters them relentlessly, swiping at the ball, establishing position in the blink of an eye for taking charges... Her on-ball, perimeter defense is just one area that makes her so highly coveted.
An amazing athlete with great vertical prowess (one of the state's best high jumpers) January has already led her LC Tigers to the 4A State Tournament, knocking off one powerhouse after another to get there. Expect an even deeper run for LC in next season's state tourney. And already this summer Briann is earning MVP awards. She and her Spokane Stars AAU team will travel to Phoenix for another big tournament before returning to Spokane for the Warehouse Tournament across the street from the Gonzaga campus, July 16-18.
In short, Briann January is a difference-maker, the calibre of player that can elevate a program to the next level. If Zag fans are smart, they'll wish real hard that this LC Tiger wears the blue and white of the nearby Bulldogs come 2005-06.
Stay tuned to the Women's Basketball Message Board for updates. But if you blink, you might miss this blur named Briann.