Schools
Qytiesha Middlebrooks Makes up For Lack of Height With Superior Talent
The Boca Ciega guard is only 4-10. But she plays much taller than that.
When the Boca Ciega High School girls basketball team faces Clearwater High School Tuesday night in a Class 5A region semifinal, Clearwater won't overlook Pirates point guard Qytiesha Middlebrooks.
Many teams will. That's because it's easy to do.
Middlebrooks is all of four-feet, 10-inches tall, a mere shrimp amid the trees of basketball players.
Therein lies the trap. For a team to overlook Middlebrooks is to set themselves up for a loss.
While the NBA may be a game played above the rim, Middlebrooks often plays above the shoulders of her opponents.
"She probably has the best vertical jump on the team," Pirates coach Will White said. "That's not saying she jumps the highest because she's starting out so low."
But Middlebrooks is proof that often, it's the size of a player's heart is more important that the size of their body.
"People try to get me in a mismatch and then they are like, 'Ooohhh, she got up there. She can jump!'" Middlebrooks said of many opponents' reactions to her.
White believes Middlebrooks is a perfect example of how an athlete, through hard work, can succeed no matter their size.
"Basketball -- at least on the high school level -- is not about who can jump the highest," White said. "It's all about fundamentals and keeping yourself in front [of an opponent] and she is [the] exception with all that. Plus, she is extraordinarily athletic. She plays so quick and she is so low to the ground."
White also explained how Middlebrooks worked her way up from a two-year starter on the junior varsity to secure a starting guard spot on the varsity, a rare leap.
Middlebrooks believes she was promoted because she's such a defensive glue on opponents.
"I'm motivated by being short, yeah, but I'm more motivated to play with my speed and quickness and how fast I run," Middlbrooks said. "I try to cut off the passing lanes and mess with [opponents'] heads. After a while, they get frustrated and rock back and forth with the ball because they don't know what to do."
When Middlebrooks plays man-to-man defense, the frustration on who she guards intensifies.
"I've seen 10 or 12 calls of people pushing off on [Middlebrooks] because they are so frustrated," White said.
"She's an exceptional basketball player and she's an even better person."
The game is at 7 p.m. tonight at Kenneth T. Robinson Memorial Gym at Boca Ciega High School, 924 58th St. S.