Most fans of high school hoops know about Brittany Hunter, the standout 6-3 post player for Brookhaven High School in Columbus, Ohio. As a junior, Hunter was a first team Street & Smith's All-America, third team Parade All-America, first team All-Ohio, USA Today Junior All-America, Associated Press Division I All-State first team and Ohio Girls Basketball Magazine Dream Team selection. She entered this season as the top-ranked senior in the nation by the All-Star Girls Report.

But she's also a great person off the court, which is why Gballmag.com reader Barry Uhrman nominated her for our High School Hero page. "Brittany is an outstanding student (4.2 GPA)," writes Uhrman. "She is an outstanding person with great character."

As a junior, Hunter averaged 19.6 points, 14.0 rebounds, 4.0 steals and 3.5 assists while leading Brookhaven to a 21-3 record and City and District Championships. This season, she's averaging 24 points and 17 rebounds per game while leading Brookhaven to a 16-5 record. The Lady Bearcats play in the second round of sectionals this week.

Hunter also made a splash at the Nike All-Star Camp last summer, according to MrHoops.com: "Although virtually everyone showed at least a few flashes of brilliance, Brittany was one of the few consistently excellent players at camp. Extremely athletic for her size, she has a knack for turning a seemingly difficult shot into an easy deuce. . . The fact that she also plays with a rare combination of intensity and maturity makes her a good candidate to start her first game as a collegian, and to remain in the opening lineup throughout her NCAA career."

She also impressed at 2002 USA Basketball Women's Youth Development Festival, which invited 48 of the country's top high school hoopsters to Colorado Springs last summer. She helped lead the North squad to a perfect 5-0 tournament record by hitting several key shots in the gold medal contest. "Brittany Hunter is obviously a big time player," said North Head Coach Mike Armstrong. "She stepped up and made two big free throws, she had a big three-point play at the end of regulation--players like her make plays and she made them for us."

In November, Hunter signed a Letter of Intent to attend Duke University. "Brittany runs the floor better than any post player in the country," said Duke Head Coach Gail Goestenkors. "She will be excellent in our running and pressing style of play. Brittany is also very skilled down on the low block and can play any of the three, four or five positions."

Hunter's final two choices were Duke and UConn (she also considered Harvard, Tennessee and Texas). "I liked the coaches and teams at both schools. They were tied from basketball aspects," Hunter told the Hartford Courant when she announced her decision. "If I took basketball out, I know I wouldn't pass up a Duke education or the experience of going to Duke. I just know 15-20 years down the road, a Duke degree is going to open a lot of doors for me. I'm not going to play basketball forever. I had to look at it like that."

Article written by Gball Associate Editor Jim Catalano.

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