As if being the MVP of the Adidas Top Ten Girls All-American
Basketball Camp this summer was not enough, San Diego High School
senior Charde Houston had to do something different from the other
girls.
Houston has scored where no woman has scored before by becoming
the first female player to participate in the men’s Adidas
Big Time prep basketball tournament, which has 400 teams and close
to 6,000 players.
Despite only playing 28 minutes for the EBO/EA Sports All-Stars
and scoring five points the entire tournament, Houston’s
accomplishment represents immense strides in narrowing the gap
between male and female competition.
“It was very different since I was the only girl suited up
in the whole gym,” Houston said. “I was nervous,
but then I got used to it because it wasn’t like I
haven’t played with boys before.”
Houston’s minimal contribution in the Adidas Big Time prep
is not an indicator of the type of offensive output she can
produce. Houston has posted big numbers throughout her
career, including single-game outputs of 51, 53, 67 and 71 ““
a California Interscholastic Federation-San Diego Section
record.
As of right now, Houston has kept her list of schools wide open,
with Texas, Tennessee, UConn, New Mexico, North Carolina, Duke,
Rutgers and UCLA all making the cut.
Currently, Houston has not planned to make official visits to
any universities but will make her final decision sometime in the
first week of November.
“It will be easier for the officials to do home visits
right now,” Houston said. “I need to pick a
situation I’m most comfortable in, and then I’ll decide
on which schools I will make an official visit to.”
Nevertheless, Houston made an unofficial visit to UCLA this past
year, and she left with a positive vibe.
“The coaching staff is incredible, especially (UCLA
assistant coach) Tia Jackson, whom I admire as a person on and off
the court,” Houston said.
“As for the girls, they made me feel really welcomed as if
I were part of the team. I got to meet Nikki Blue, Noelle Quinn,
Amanda Livingston and Consuelo Lezcano, and they all have great
personalities and positive attitudes.”
A mere 771 points stands between Houston and basketball great
Cheryl Miller’s state record of 3,446 set at Riverside Poly
from 1979-1982.
Yet, that imminent feat probably is not one of Houston’s
chief accomplishments during her on-going career in high
school.
As a sophomore, the 6-foot-2-inch Houston averaged 34 points per
game and bettered that statistic last season as a junior by
averaging 35.6 points, making her the first player in her
section’s history to have multiple 1,000-point scoring
seasons.
With that type of offensive capability, it’s no wonder
colleges are trying to entice this probable consensus No. 1 recruit
in the country to be a part of their program.
“It feels really good being considered the No. 1
player,” Houston said.
“But, it’s also really hard to stay up there because
so many people want to knock you down.”
Named to the Parade Magazine All-America second team and
selected for the Union-Tribune All-San Diego Section team for the
third straight season, Houston also was a member of the USA
Basketball Women’s Youth Development Festival.
As for this past summer, Houston envisions herself playing
shooting guard in college, so she has been working on making her
jump shot more consistent.
“Charde dominates in the high school game,” San
Diego High head coach Marlon Wells said. “If anything,
she’ll need to work on her footwork and make better decisions
on the court, but at the college level she’ll definitely be
an impact player as a freshman.”