CONWAY -- When you are named Jordan and you play basketball, great things are expected.
Jordan Danberry has the game to go along with her name.
JORDAN DANBERRY
SCHOOL Conway
POSITION Guard
HEIGHT 5-8
CLASS Senior
COLLEGE CHOICE Arkansas
STATISTICS 14.0 points, 4.3 assists, 4.2 rebounds, 3.6 steals
BIRTHDAY June 25, 1997
FAMILY Mother: Angela Cleveland. Father: Oland Danberry. Brothers: Shaun, 21, B.J., 3. Sisters: Asia, 16; Trinity, 13; Phoenyx, 6.
How they were chosen
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s All-Arkansas Preps boys and girls basketball teams were chosen with the help of college and high school coaches from around the state. Players were selected for their performance on the court during the 2014-2015 season. Academic standing isn’t reflected in the selections.
"My dad tells me I was named Jordan because [Michael Jordan] won a championship the year before I was born," Danberry said. "But I don't know how true that really is."
Danberry, who led the Conway Lady Wampus Cats to back-to-back appearances in the Class 7A state championship game, has been selected by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette as the All-Arkansas Preps girls basketball player of year for the second year in a row.
After winning a state title in 2014 and earning MVP honors at the 2014 state tournament, Conway Coach Ashley Nance said Danberry avoided the trap of becoming complacent.
"I saw a lot of maturity in her, especially coming off a state championship and a MVP" Nance said. "Some players will plateau and not work on anything, but Jordan, she got better. ... She was a better all-around player."
Danberry signed with the University of Arkansas and Coach Jimmy Dykes last fall, which Nance said kept Danberry focused.
"Coach Dykes was involved in her everyday practice routine," Nance said. "He cared how she was doing, and I think that helped."
"I won a lot of awards last year," Danberry said. "I wanted to come back and prove that I was deserving of all of them."
The Lady Wampus Cats' season may not have ended the way she wanted with an 80-65 loss to Fayetteville in the state championship game, but Danberry turned in an impressive performance in her high school finale with 20 points, 6 rebounds and 5 steals.
Nance said Danberry was not the most easily motivated player she has ever coached, but that when it came to big games no one was more ready than Danberry.
"She's not self-motivated, but I don't think a lot of players are self-driven these days," Nance said. "I don't want to lie about it. If we're playing a team that isn't very good, she's not going to be excited for it. She lives for the challenge, which is not a bad thing."
Nance said a prime example of Danberry's best efforts came during the Sandra Meadows Classic in Texas, a 32-team nationally renowned tournament that the Lady Wampus Cats won.
"When we were playing in the Sandra Meadows Classic, you could tell she was motivated by the other players around her, who was there and who was watching," Nance said. "In that sense, she does motivate herself, but she does have to have some sort of outside goal."
Danberry said she doesn't know how serious her parents were about her name, but Michael Jordan is one of her favorite players and when she first started playing the sport she wore Jordan's iconic No. 23. Danberry wore No. 24 during her time at Conway.
"I love wearing shirts that say 'Jordan' on them," Danberry said. "The only thing is that they have his number on them and not mine. ... A lot of players want to wear No. 23, but I wanted to be different. I started wearing 22, but when I got to high school one of my teammates already had that number, so I switched to 24.
"I love Michael Jordan, but I wanted to be my own person and have my own goals, too."
Sports on 03/29/2015