By Rich Winter

605 Sports

BRANDON —- Earlier this year Brandon Valley senior-to-be Brooke Burnette received the basketball news of her young lifetime.

 Burnette was contacted by Student Athlete World USA and was asked to play on a team that would be playing in Germany and Austria during the month of June.

 “They found me from a recruiting website where I have a profile and a bunch of videos posted,” Burnette said.

 Skeptical at first, Brooke and her parents Juel and Laquita (Shaw) Burnette did their research. 

 “We discovered it was a really good program so we just decided to go forward with it,”Juel Burnette said. “There were some coaches with pretty heavy resumes and to get to play for a college coach, and in front of other coaches was something we wanted to experience.” 

 Burnette filled out the necessary paperwork that included a request for a letter of recommendation and a Zoom interview. In the Zoom Interview it was explained to Brooke that basketball talent wasn’t the only thing the organization was looking for.

 “They wanted to know how I would represent the United States in a foreign country and what I was looking forward to doing while there,” Brooke Burnette said. “There are no college coaches over there so you can’t just say you were coming over to play in front of coaches.”

 When the geography of the girls, that would comprise one 16U team and two 19U teams was charted, Burnette was placed on the 19U West team. Prior to assembling in Miami for the flight to Europe the girls did Zoom meetings to become somewhat familiar with one another. 

 “Prior to Miami you couldn’t really see the other girls' personalities,” Burnette said. 

 Upon meeting the rest of the team Burnette, who isn’t one to seek out attention, was surrounded by girls that were talkative, social and sometimes just loud. The teams flew from Miami to Lisbon,  Portugal before landing in Munich, West Germany. The team didn’t stay long in Munich before being transported to Salzburg, Germany.

 Three things about Europe made an immediate impression on Burnette.

 “I really loved the architecture and all the castles that we saw in the countryside,” she said. “The other thing was the food. We were all expecting to eat something like sausages but they kept feeding us this fried schnitzel and we weren’t expecting that.”

 When Burnette was handed her red, white and blue jersey with the USA across the chest she had some instant emotion.

Brooke Burnette pictured with her West 19-U team that played in the United World Games in Germany and Austria - Courtesy photo.

 “It felt honorable and proud to represent something,” she said. “It wasn’t like putting on something from high school. It felt like I was representing my country and was going to create other people’s perceptions by the way you play but by the way you act.” 

 Prior to the tournament, the team had just one practice and two exhibition games. Burnette stands 5-foot-10 and usually plays the power forward position. She ended up being the second or third tallest player on the team and that immediately forced a certain style of play.

 “We were really guard heavy and that’s not something you can just fix,” she said.

 After playing in Germany the team eventually traveled to Austria, and during the six tournament games Burnette played she immediately found the style of play very different. 

 “It was way more streetball,” she said. “The rules, the fouls and you didn’t get bailed out on anything.” 

 Overall Burnette’s team finished 5-1-2 with the final loss coming in the bronze medal game to a team they had beaten the day before. 

 The Burnettes, including Brooke, are members of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe and Brooke said that in the back of her mind she was playing for kids that would probably never be offered this kind of opportunity. 

 “I recognized that I was getting this opportunity and that some kids barely ever get off the reservation,” she said. “With no college coaches there I was doing the trip for the experience while thinking about kids that may never have this opportunity.” 

 Burnette said she was nervous about traveling all the way to Europe and not playing well. At the conclusion of the tournament both 19U coaches, with college coaching experience, said they would be staying in contact and reaching out. 

 “I felt like I played pretty well,” she said. “I left Europe feeling good knowing that I did my job and I left there feeling good about how I played.”

 Burnette came off the bench last season for Brandon Valley, which reached the Class AA championship game. She said her summer trip and playing AAU ball with the South Dakota Network has her confidence soaring as she enters her senior season.

 “I want to play college basketball and probably stay close to home,”she said. “I now know that I can be comfortable away from home. Prospect wise you don’t see a lot of girls that have played in other countries and that just feels like it gives me an edge.”