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In an era where social media serves as a sounding board for college prospects, Fayetteville senior Ashley Breathitt's humbleness is refreshing. Twitter is where many prep stars hype their own recruitment with updates on scholarship offers and verbal commitments. Often, the latter requires much more than 140 characters, so prospects will take screen shots of long explanations about their decision. But instead of bragging about herself, teammate Lauren Holmes was the first to break the news about Breathitt's commitment to Arkansas Tech last week. "I'm just not really flashy like that," Breathitt said. "Nothing against people who do that, because I have a lot of friends that do it, but that's just not who I am. I would rather someone else say that instead of saying, 'Hey, look at me.'" Breathitt became Fayetteville's fifth player from the senior class to make a college pledge. Holmes, Kylee Coulter, Maya Mayberry and Grayce Spangler have signed with Division-I programs. Two underclassmen, junior Jasmine Franklin and freshman Sasha Goforth, already report Division-I scholarship offers. Surrounded by so many college-bound players makes it tough for a player like Breathitt to shine. She doesn't mind as long as Fayetteville keeps winning. She averages 5.3 points and 1.8 rebounds per game and shoots 51 percent from the field for the Lady Bulldogs (25-2, 12-0 7A-West) heading into tonight's home game against Springdale High. "Team chemistry is so important to me because if you don't have team chemistry, you're not going to win," Breathitt said. "If I'm not having a good game and have to go to the bench, then I'll cheer as hard as I can from the bench because, whatever it takes, I just want to win." Fayetteville coach Vic Rimmer called Breathitt "the glue" of the team because of her mentality and ability to play all five positions. She can shoot from the perimeter, beat a defender off the dribble or post up in the paint. She also has a knack for delivering passes "right into the spot where they can catch-shoot," he said. "You watch our team once, and she's not going to be the one you notice," Rimmer said. "But if you watch us four, five, six times, you'll notice her because she's the steady one. She's the one that always gets stuff done." Holmes and Breathitt have been teammates since fourth grade and played summer ball together on the Arkansas Banshees AAU program. Holmes said it's been fun watching her friend "grow as an overall player," especially after Breathitt fractured her elbow while playing at Ramay Junior High. "It's actually, in a weird way, helped her," Holmes said. "Because now she's ambidextrous and can dribble with both hands. She's really worked hard on shooting because before, when she was left-handed, her shot wasn't very good. When she broke her elbow, she turned right-handed, and now she can shoot really well." The injury occurred on a fast break when Breathitt jumped to block a shot from a Bentonville player. Momentum carried her into a padded wall, and she fell to the ground. A teammate's mother, who was a physician's assistant, put the elbow back into place in the locker room. A left-handed point guard before the injury, Breathitt now can dribble or shoot with either hand, which makes her even more attractive as a college prospect. "I don't know if I would have gotten offers, but I've definitely benefited from it," Breathitt said. "I thought my basketball career was over, but it wasn't. I just had to keep going."

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MIKE CAPSHAW

Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette | 2/21/2017

PHOTO CREDIT: Andy Shupe