Like an open shot from beyond the arc, Jacey Bailey wanted to make the perfect play.
The choices available gave the 17-year-old Burnaby shooting guard plenty to weigh, but in the end she made it look easy.
With the stroke of a pen, Bailey accepted a full-ride scholarship from Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, a community of 89,000 people on the east coast.
Known as a retirement town by some – its where Jerry Seinfeld’s fictional parents retired to – the city north of Fort Lauderdale will also be where the Burnaby Mountain Secondary graduate will launch her missiles over the heads of frustrated defenders.
“When I went on my visit basically everything I imagined I wanted in a school was there,” says Bailey. “It all fit for me.”
The 6-foot-1 hoop star fielded interest from three California universities, Texas Tech and Denver, but it wasn’t sun-and-sand which won her over. It was the prospect of joining a program she felt a quick bond with.
“When I went down there (coach Kellie Lewis-Jay) told me she doesn’t plan on me being there to be on the bench… I’ll have to do the work but the opportunity is there.
“She knows the game really well and she put the focus the players and how we can make it a strong program.”
With three brothers (two older), Bailey has grown accustomed to having to earn her spot on the floor. She’s become a double-team target on the high school and provincial team circuits. Over the past four seasons with the Burnaby Mountain Lions she groomed a reputation as one of B.C.’s most dominating players.
Three years with the provincial team led to the past two junior national camp invitations, where she was one of only two from B.C. invited to a second assessment camp in preparation for this summer’s FIBA U18 Americas tournament in Chile in July.
Those experiences have created a foundation where each test and every practice is where you are surrounded by elite players and coasting is not an option.
“It’s pretty intense,” she says of the national camps. “Compared to (high school), over there everyone is a high calibre player. You learn to play with the people at the next level, rather than being the best player on your team.
“I think it was different, adjusting to that. Rather than having one star player – everyone is a star player.”
The lessons learned at that level have definitely added dimensions to her game, Bailey says.
“The (national camp) coaches are very helpful, always telling us where we need to raise our game. They tell me I need to be more aggressive, they tell you what you need to hear.”
Playing for the senior Lions since Grade 8, meanwhile, was uniquely different, where much of the pressure had to come from within. It forced her to take a leadership role and build chemistry with her teammates, instead of just shooting out the lights.
A year ago, the Lions achieved a school first when they advanced to the provincials. This year the program nearly didn’t floor a team after the graduation of so many seniors. But head coach and vice-principal James Morton scrabbled together a roster that featured a handful of new-to-Canada and a few new to organized basketball, nearly making it to the dance a second straight year.
One of the highlights, though she didn’t mention it, was scoring an eye-popping 55 of her team’s 66 points, including 12 treys, in a record-breaking performance at the Britannia tourney in January.
Bailey admits missing the B.C.s was a disappointment, but remarks how proud of her team she was in coming together and pushing it to the limits.
“I think just being able to play my last year was special. Being able to be a leader for my team, because I was always the youngest on my team coming up, playing up as a Grade 8. Being able to provide leadership for my teammates and to get where we got.”
Now, going to Florida presents a challenge she plans to relish with equal vigor.
“I think the transition from high school to university is probably the biggest challenge ahead,” she says. “I’m used to being away from home, with my Basketball BC and national responsibilities.
“There’s a lot of things I’m going to miss, for sure, like my mom’s cooking and all my friends. But I’m excited to be there and become part of my new team.”
