Not to play basketball, but soccer, and that rare two-sport achievement demonstrates the depth of her athletic abilities.
In three seasons playing varsity basketball, Even, a 5-11 guard, has scored 1,140 points, the fifth most in girls basketball history. She’s 202 points behind Gracie Cosgrove, the school’s all-time leading scorer who’s playing at Ohio Dominican.
The all-time boys scoring leader is John Richter who has 1,229 points.
But basketball will have to wait.
Right now it’s soccer season, and after missing her junior year while recovering from her second ACL surgery, Even wants to make the most of this season.
“I’m ready to go,” she said. “I missed playing last season.”
While she enjoys playing soccer and basketball, she prefers soccer because it’s more mental than physical.
“You can’t run through 11 people,” she said. “Sometimes you can just make an athletic play in basketball. That’s hard to do in soccer.”
While playing club showcase tournaments that draw college coaches, Even said they showed an interest in her.
That was the first time she realized soccer may be her best college sport.
“I was a little overwhelmed at first,” she said of the recruiting process.
She was recruited by Ohio State, Michigan and Cincinnati. She chose the Bearcats over the Big 10 powers because it’s closer to home and she felt comfortable around the coaching staff.
Her mother, Christy Even, was a goalie on the women’s soccer team at UC. She never pushed her daughter to follow in her college footsteps.
“But selfishly, I love that that happened,” said Even, assistant superintendent at the Warren County Educational Services Center.
When Rob and Christy Even were looking for a Catholic high school for Braelyn, they chose Badin because the coaches encouraged multi-sport students and wanted them to be active outside athletics.
Christy said some high school coaches try to “insulate” their standout athletes from playing more than one sport.
That encouragement was important after Braelyn torn her ACL and missed her junior soccer season, but recovered in time for basketball, her mother said.
By playing two sports her daughter had “not one identity,” her mother said.
Braelyn comes from a long line of athletes.
Her brother, J.J., now at Indiana University, played soccer and volleyball at Badin; her younger brother, Chase, plays football and basketball at Badin; her great-uncle Jack T. Hoffman played for the Dallas Cowboys; and her great-grandfather, Jack H. Hoffman played for the Chicago Bears.
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The Journal-News will profile a local high school athlete on Fridays. If you have a suggestion, please forward the athlete’s name and high school to Rick McCrabb at rmccrabb1@gmail.com.
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