ty game. Grays then called her up to the varsity for a scrimmage.But what no one but Grissett knew at the time was that she had been watching the older girls in practice, studying their moves just as she had done with NBA2K.I showed them up, Grissett sa

Elisia LeLe Grissett frequently rolls up her sleeves and flexes her biceps for high school coach Ovester Grays. Shes got her reasons.For one, Grissetts muscles are tangible proof of the work she has put in to redefine both her body and her game. She has gained 25 pounds the past two-plus years, and her basketball skills have been similarly transformed.Her mother, Yalonda Days, said her daughter had always been puny. Grissett said she was like a little twig.Note the past tense.At 6-foot-2 and 155 pounds, Grissett is now a tower of power. A high-scoring wing at Hillside (Durham, North Carolina), Grissett is the No. 31 prospect in the espnW HoopGurlz Super 60 for the 2017 class.She recently committed to South Carolina after a junior year in which she averaged 22.2 points, 9.3 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 3.2 steals and 3.0 blocks, leading the Hornets to a 28-2 record and a berth in the Class 4A state semifinals. In an obvious selection, Grissett was named first-team all-state.She makes things happen on the court, teammate Michaela Thompson said of Grissetts versatile game. When she has the ball, everyone has to respect her as a driver, as a shooter and as a passer. Shes the ultimate threat.That was not always the case.Grissett, who recently turned 17 and is the youngest of Days three daughters, did not grow up in a sports family. She taught herself the game, just like she taught herself many other things.At age 3, Grissett learned how to ride a bike. When her mother tried to steady it, Grissett pushed her hand away. Swimming was much the same; before Days realized it, Grissett was 5 feet deep in the pool, and her mother was terrified ... until she realized her daughter had things under control.In eighth grade, the fiercely independent Grissett tried basketball, and it wasnt pretty at first. Often flailing away like she was still in that pool, Grissett would trip over her own feet. Making a layup was completely out of the question.I was horrible, Grissett said. I was straight garbage.She scored two points -- the entire year -- for W.G. Pearson Magnet middle school.Im going to play in the WNBA, she told her mom without irony.But Grissett didnt just talk a big game, she worked. She watched a video game, NBA2K, and developed her basketball moves there.I learned the Euro step, crossover moves, step-backs, Grissett said. I learned a lot of stuff.By then, she was hooked on basketball. She would go to parks to play pickup games against boys. She would wake up before school so she could go to the gym to shoot.And when Grays finally saw her, he was convinced.[Coach] Grays said, This child is going to be great, Days said. He wanted to know if I would consent to having her play with his travel team.I didnt know if we had the money, but I realized basketball kept her grounded. She wasnt a bad kid, but she wouldnt do her best [in school].But then she went from a C student to an A student. It was a win-win for me. I wasnt a sports person, but I knew if she loved it that much and she was willing to do whatever, then it was a win for me. I said, OK, you can play basketball, but you have to pull your grades up. Basketball has transformed her whole life.Even so, Grissett met resistance in high school.Her older teammates told her there was no way she could make varsity as a freshman, and Grissett admits that shook her previously unshakeable confidence. A bit.You know how upperclassmen talk junk, she said. I was really small, and they were bigger than me. I was like, What am I going to do? Grissett found her answer. She scored 35 of her teams 50 points in her first -- and only -- junior varsity game. Grays then called her up to the varsity for a scrimmage.But what no one but Grissett knew at the time was that she had been watching the older girls in practice, studying their moves just as she had done with NBA2K.I showed them up, Grissett said. I proved them wrong.Grays has been coaching Hillside for 22 years -- sending more than 90 players to college basketball -- but he said he hasnt met too many girls who compare to Grissett.Shes a rare talent, he said. Early on, I saw that she had a strong drive to become great. And when she didnt make the varsity initially, she took her drive to a new level.I challenged her to improve defensively and make her teammates better, and she amped up her intensity. There was no discussion. She just did it -- the kid went to work.In Grissetts freshman year, Hillside had three seniors and three juniors, all of whom went on to play Division I basketball. Nevertheless, Grissett forged her way into the starting lineup and averaged 12 points and 6.5 rebounds as Hillside finished 26-3. The Hornets may have gone further than the regional final, but Grissett got strep throat and missed that last game, a three-point loss.As a sophomore, Grissett would often spend her lunch hour in Grays office as he rolled tape of 1980s-era NBA greats such as Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.That was also the year when Grissett started flexing her biceps, metaphorically showing Grays that she was strong enough to carry his team. Hillside finished 27-3 during her sophomore season and Grissett averaged 16.5 points and 8.5 rebounds.Colleges started recruiting Grissett, who settled on a final four of South Carolina, North Carolina, Wake Forest and Maryland.Grissett, who has a 3.9 weighted GPA and wants to major in communications, chose the Gamecocks for a variety of reasons. For starters, she was born in Conway, South Carolina, so it will be a homecoming of sorts. She moved to Durham when she was 7. Second, and most importantly, Grissett discovered she had great chemistry with coach Dawn Staley.While other coaches called her by her given name of Elisia, Staley latched on to her preferred moniker of LeLe. The outgoing Grissett said she loves that she doesnt have to tone down her big personality when she is around Staley.She told me, Coach, those other schools didnt call me LeLe, and they never put their arms around me, Grays said. South Carolina physically and emotionally embraced her. Wholesale Nike Air Max . Thousands of Southern California fans enveloped the Trojans to celebrate an improbable win secured by an interim coach, an inconsistent kicker and a thin defence that wouldnt break. Fake Nike Air Max Free Shipping .Y. -- Knicks coach Mike Woodson said Wednesday that J. https://www.fakeairmaxwholesale.com/ . -- Jimmie Johnson held off a teammate, passed a pair of Hall of Famers, and dominated once more at Dover. Nike Air Max Clearance . 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