Ever since she was 5 years old, ears have surrounded Samantha Brunelle when she hits the basketball court. Now that she's the highest-ranked sophomore basketball prospect in the nation, all eyes -- including two that belong to Geno Auriemma -- are upon her.
Some say scoring is in her nature, and the Brunelle family traces that to their vast backyard.
A decade ago, Rod and Katie Brunelle put down asphalt and put up a portable hoop so their only child could hoist a few shots in their vast backyard. The Brunelles live on a 300-acre family farm at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Ruckersville, Virginia.
Samantha's uncle Billy runs the farm -- countless dairy cows and turkeys -- but Samantha handles the basketball department, honing her game on a half court surrounded on three sides by enough corn to make an Iowan envious.
A year ago, Brunelle's mother surprised her by painting white lines on the asphalt court. Free throws, 3-pointers, out of bounds -- they were all marked. Katie went even further by painting a yellow "33" inside the free throw area.
"That court is amazing," said Samantha, who wears No. 33 for her high school team. "I put my headphones on, and I can shoot, and I can think. It's a peaceful time for me."
That court represents utopia for Brunelle, but it has helped cause chaos for her opponents. As a freshman at William Monroe (Stanardsville, Virginia) last season, she broke two state records. Her 28 rebounds set the single-game Virginia mark, and her 650 points crushed the state record for points in a season by a freshman.
Undeclared for college, Brunelle averaged 23.8 points, 17.5 rebounds, 3.2 blocks, 2.5 assists and 1.7 steals per game. She matched her uniform number and scored 33 points in her high school debut. She had a high of 52 points last season. The Central Virginia Player of the Year, she had a game in which she went 18-for-18 from the foul line.
"Her numbers explode off the page, and that's despite the fact that she faced constant double-teams and junk defenses," William Monroe coach Jess Stafford said. "There's nothing you can do at this level to keep her from putting the ball in the basket. It's in her nature to score."
Hoops above all
That "nature," of course, has a lot to do with Samantha's parents.
Rod, now a realtor, was a 6-foot-3, 215-pound outfielder and first baseman. He was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 15th round in 1985 but never made it past Class A ball. He averaged .277 and hit 21 homers over four seasons.
Katie, now the principal at William Monroe Middle School, was a 5-foot-10 post player at Division III Bridgewater College in Virginia. She later became the head high school basketball coach at Orange County (Orange, Virginia) before settling in as an administrator.
Between Rod's love for baseball and Katie's devotion to basketball, it was mom who knew best. When the couple took newborn Samantha home from the hospital, the baby girl was wearing a pink dress and tiny, white, high-top sneakers.
"She was going to be a basketball player," Katie said with a laugh.
Brunelle tried other sports. She competed in travel softball and volleyball leagues, and she was an aggressive hitter in both those endeavors. But there was something about basketball.
One day when she was in seventh grade, Brunelle came home from practice and told her mom she wanted to be the best basketball player in the country. Katie explained that reaching that goal would take hard work and laser focus. The next day, Samantha announced to her parents that she was quitting softball and volleyball to devote her athletic energies to basketball and her quest to be the best.
A unique taste
Despite all her basketball success, Brunelle is still a kid at heart.
"I've never seen her have a bad day," Rod said.
She has a go-kart -- it has some fender damage from when she drove it off an embankment -- and she has had loads of fun driving. She loves to joke around; telling people their shoelaces are untied when they actually aren't is one of her favorite gags.
She enjoys dancing, even when her teammates tell her to stick to basketball. At the very least, she's unafraid to try any move and post it on Twitter. Her latest attempt is "Hit the Quan."
"I know the move," Brunelle said. "Whether it looks good or not, I don't know."
More than go-karts, practical jokes and dance moves, she loves ketchup. She puts it on just about any food, and she makes sure she's never too far from her favorite condiment.
"I always keep a few packets in my purse," she said. "And I keep a miniature tube in my locker and in my lunch box -- just in case."
Her penchant for ketchup sometimes disrupts her clean basketball look.
"I was wearing a white jersey," Brunelle said in citing an example. "I was eating a hot dog at Jason's Deli, and my coach told me, 'Don't get any stains on your uniform.' Sure enough, on my first bite, I got ketchup all over my jersey.
"It happens every time."
Strong roots
There's more to Brunelle than ketchup stains and dance moves, though. She's an excellent student, with a 4.25 GPA. She's interested in studying business and communications. A recent presentation won her third place in the state as part of the Future Business Leaders of America.
In July, she culminated her impressive freshman year by helping USA's U17 team win a bronze medal at the FIBA world championships in Zaragoza, Spain. It was her first trip abroad but likely not her last.
She got her first college scholarship offer when she was in seventh grade (Wake Forest), and Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma has already been to two of her practices. But Brunelle, who plays AAU ball for the Boo Williams program and coach Mike Davis, said it's too early to decide where she will enroll. She plans to take several official visits in the next few months -- she has already visited a handful, including Virginia, Maryland, South Carolina and Texas -- to start exploring her choices.
"There's nothing you can do at this level to keep her from putting the ball in the basket. It's in her nature to score." Jess Stafford
Even so, she remains humble. When USA Basketball invited her to their U17 Colorado tryouts in May, Brunelle, playing against older girls, surprised herself by making the team.
She received an even bigger shock when she returned home from Colorado. Hundreds of Greene County residents lined the streets to celebrate her accomplishment. She received a police escort once she crossed the county line, and that took her to her high school, where more friends awaited.
"There were a massive amount of people with signs saying, 'Sam, we love you!'" Stafford said. "There was a guy with a tractor who had a sign. There were people on pickup trucks. There were news crews waiting for her at school.
"Sam had tears of joy. She had no idea this was coming. She's a humble kid who just happens to be pretty good at basketball."
Brunelle's police escort went down Route 33, naturally.
"It's nice coming from a small town," she said. "I have a community that is so loving and caring. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else."