“Anything you can do I can do better, I can do anything better than you…” Those are song lyrics from the 1946 Broadway musical Annie Get Your Gun. The song reveals a male singer and a female singer attempting to outdo each other in various complex tasks. Although Jamylah Bright isn’t trying to outdo anyone, she does want to make one thing clear…she can ball with the best of them.
The youngest of three children, Jamylah is a 6th grader but plays on the Turner Middle School 7th grade girls’ basketball team. “When she was a child I always knew that she would play some type of sport,” said her mom Tina Clyce. She says basketball was the natural choice because Jamylah would always go outside and play with her brother and the boys. “I always told her she can do anything she puts her mind to.”
“I wanted to show people that what boys can do… girls can do also,” admits Jamylah. This past season she has definitely done that. She averaged 10 points per game and is not afraid to grab those rebounds also averaging 9 per game. She was an instrumental part in her team going all the way to the championship game. Not bad for someone who has been playing for a short time.
And just who has been her biggest influence? She says it’s her brother Jamall Clyce a sophomore at Pebblebrook High School and plays on their varsity team. “Jamall gives the advice,” Tina said. “He gives the encouragement and trains her at times. He hasn’t made every game because of his own basketball schedule but when he does, he is there for everything. They have a close connection.”
So what does this talented middle school baller want to do with the rest of her life? For now her dream is to go on to play in High School and further develop her craft. After that, she hopes to attend and play at UCLA and one day play in the WNBA.
We’ll be keeping a close eye on Jamylah throughout her AAU season with the Atlanta Nets. Who knows, we just might see her in the WNBA one day.
