DILLON — In just one season, Brianna King has already earned her place as one of the best athletes in Montana Western history.
“She is what you see, she’s level-headed and calm, cool, and collected all the time. It’s nice to have a kid like that who doesn’t have highs and lows,” said Montana Western women’s basketball coach Lindsay Woolley.
Western ended up needing to fill some big shoes after the 2016 season when the Bulldogs lost senior all-American Anise Palmore. In came King in the 2017 season, and her impact was immediately felt.
“It was the year we were losing an all-American point guard in Anise Palmore, and we knew we needed someone to come in and set the tone and give us a scoring punch and give us some ball-handling in the backcourt,” added Woolley.
Making a college choice for any student-athlete is a big decision to make, but once King got an offer from Montana Western and visited the campus, she knew she’d find more than just a place to play college basketball.
“Coach Tony (Nakashima) reached out to me, came on a visit, and I really liked the place and liked the team a lot,” King said. “It’s been fun here, actually. They’re really welcoming here, so it’s been a lot of fun playing here.”
On the court, King’s basketball skills are jaw-dropping. She can shoot, pass, defend and create space with her impressive ball-handling skills.
“She’s got the ability to score from anywhere on the floor. You couple that with her ability to defend on the perimeter, I think she’s one of the better guards in our league,” said Woolley.
King also earned herself the Frontier Conference preseason player of the year award after winning the league’s newcomer of the year award last year.
“It means a lot to get the recognition,” King said. “Obviously I worked really hard on my game, so it’s really cool to have that recognition.”
