a day ago
Benet senior Emma Briggs doesn't drive yet. Committing to Furman, though, she knows where she wants to go.
As Benet's Emma Briggs begins her senior year, she still requires a ride to school every day.
But she knows exactly where she's going.
'I was giving her grief about not having her driver's license yet,' Benet coach Joe Kilbride said. 'She's young for her class, but she's always been very mature. She's very well-spoken and emotionally mature.'
Briggs won't turn 17 until December, but the versatile 6-footer already has her life plan mapped out.
'I think that being a basketball player, we are always very prone to injuries,' she said. 'We are always aware of that, so I want to be an orthopedic surgeon. I want to be a part of other athletes' recovery from basketball injuries.'
So Briggs considered academics in her search for a Division I program, and she committed to Furman this week.
'That was one of the things that attracted her to it is that academically it's very good,' Kilbride said. 'She had a number of schools interested in her, including several Ivy League, but Furman kind of fit what she was looking for.
'They seemed to really value what she brings as a player, so I think it's going to be a great fit from that perspective.'
Briggs was playing with her AAU team in a tournament in Rock Hill, South Carolina, which is less than 100 miles from Furman's campus in Greenville. Furman's coaches were in attendance.
'I was injured for most of those games, but I went on a visit right after, and they offered me on the visit,' Briggs said. 'I had a great time on my visit, so that was definitely one of the deciding factors.
'It's also near where my parents are going to move when I graduate, so anywhere close to that was helpful.'
The Briggs family will be relocating to Charlotte.
'It's like two hours away,' she said. 'So it's close enough that they can come to home games.'
Briggs is the second member of Benet's senior class to commit to a Division I program, joining Richmond-bound guard Bridget Rifenburg. Both are four-year varsity players and have similar skills.
'I think Bridget and Emma are both wings in college, but in high school they are so versatile,' Kilbride said. 'Both of them are like the definition of this positionless basketball you keep hearing people talk about.
'They can guard multiple positions. Offensively, they can play multiple positions.'
That will be a key for the Redwings (29-3), who don't have a lot of size. Briggs and Rifenburg will probably be post defenders but could play anywhere on offense.
'We're planning to run some stuff where both of them would be initiating it, almost like the Nuggets do with (Nikola) Jokic,' Kilbride said. 'Because both of them are really good ball handlers, they're great going downhill. They're good passers.'
Briggs, who averaged 10.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists last season, is coming off a third straight summer of competing for Great Britain in the FIBA EuroBasket tournament. This year, she helped Great Britain finish sixth in the B Division of the women's U18 tournament in Lithuania.
'Playing for Great Britain, I think she's gotten a lot of exposure playing against different players,' Rifenburg said. 'She's gotten so good at playmaking, and she's a really good passer.
'That helps so much because being a defender, it's hard to know what she's going to do. It kind of keeps us on our toes, and I think that makes her really dangerous.'
Rifenburg isn't surprised that Briggs aspires to be a surgeon.
'She's extremely smart,' Rifenburg said. 'She's a critical thinker, and I think she definitely looks at basketball that way too.
'She's very unselfish on the court and even in the classroom. If I'm ever struggling at math or need help at anything, she's always there to help me. She's a great person on and off the court.'
Briggs said she's excited for her final season with the Redwings, who are aiming to return to the state semifinals after losing to Waubonsie Valley in a Class 4A sectional championship game in each of the past two seasons.
'Especially now that me and Bridget are seniors, we're going to put everything out,' Briggs said. 'Coach Kilbride said that good teams are made of unselfish players and great teammates make great leaders.
'So I think me and Bridget have to be those leaders who are unselfish and are looking out for the team in general. We're not the type of people to be selfish on the court. I think we'll do great this year.'
