As a sophomore for the Harding Academy Wildcats, Riley Rose averaged 17.7 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 3.3 steals per game. But to the 5-7 point guard, her individual statistics are not important. Rose has team goals in mind as she enters her third year as a starter for the Harding basketball team.
“I have high expectations for this year,” she said. “I had them last year, too, but they are even higher this year, and I can’t wait to get rolling. It’s going to be an amazing year.”
But Rose’s individual basketball accolades didn’t go unnoticed. She earned a spot on the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s Girl’s Sophomore Team and was chosen as Female Athlete of the Year at the All Arkansas Preps Awards Banquet over the summer. Helping her win the Female Athlete of the Year award were her track and field exploits. In the Class 3A track and field state meet last May, Rose swept the sprints, winning the 100 meter, the 200 and the 400, as the Lady Wildcats captured their third consecutive state championship.
“It was a surprise and a blessing winning [Female Athlete of the Year],” Rose said. “It was amazing, and I have to thank God for that. It was an amazing experience and because of that, it just makes me want to work harder. It makes me want to push my team harder in practice. It makes me want to work harder to make them want to work harder. It puts the target on my back, but I like it that way. It makes it a lot more fun.”
With track and field still a winter away, Rose is concentrating on basketball, and last year’s 48-46 loss to Mountain View in the Class 3A girls State Tournament has been Rose’s offseason motivation.
“I’m one of those persons who if you lose an important game like that, I’m going to sit there and re-watch that game until I figure out what went wrong,” she said. “Honestly, in that game we got outworked on the boards. We got out-hustled on the 50/50 plays, and that just drives me up a wall to know that happened. This year [in practice], we’ve been trying to work harder on that, especially on the boards. This year is a different group, and we have a different mindset and different goals, and I believe that we can achieve all those goals that we have for this year. Our seniors are leading the way.”
Rose said Harding Academy lost “three amazing seniors” from last year’s team, and their departed experience is a loss for the Wildcats heading into the 2013-14 season. But this year’s squad also returns a lot of experience, and Rose said her teammates’ experience only makes her better.
“My strength on the court would be how blessed I am to have my teammates out there,” she said. “They make me look so much better. My teammates make everything look amazing. I can’t thank them enough.”
On the court, Rose said, she is comfortable handling the ball, passing the ball or attacking the basket and scoring points, but she’s spent the offseason honing her mental game. “I need to work — even if I’m mad or frustrated — to keep encouraging teammates because if my head is down, that’s not going to help our team any,” she said. “I need to work on getting over the mental blocks of the game. I know I need to work on my outside shot. It’s getting there.”
One of the highest-rated point guards in the nation for the class of 2015, Rose has basketball scholarship offers from a number of schools, from smaller schools such as Harding University to the University of Arkansas, but Rose is undecided where she will play basketball in college. That’s understandable as she enters her junior season. Likewise, Rose is still undecided on her college major, although that indecision is a new development.
“I would have said about a month ago — right off the bat — I want to be an athletic trainer or physical therapist,” said Rose, who mentions history and biology as two of her favorite subjects. “But then I started thinking about it, and sometimes they might have to give people a shot, and the problem with that is, I pass out at the sight of a needle. So my Plan B right now is undecided. I have no idea right now.”
For her decisions — where to attend college, what to major in and others — Rose places her trust in the Lord.
“Everything — all the opportunities I’ve had, all the awards — is just amazing to me,” she said. “I’m so thankful. God gets the glory through it all. It’s not about me in all of this. It’s about him and people seeing him through me. I truly believe that.”