Brighton's Sophia Moir went from backup to future college basketball player

Source: Yahoo Sports

BRIGHTON -- With her senior season of basketball nearly two months away, Brighton's Sophia Moir was undecided.

Undecided about her college choice, yes. But also undecided as to whether or not playing basketball would be part of her college experience.

An encounter in September while playing in a fall league at the Legacy Center in Brighton brought clarity.

"I went back and forth a lot of the offseason before this season," Moir said. "I kind of always had it in the back of my mind it was something I wanted to do. When it became realistic was at Legacy when the Kalamazoo coach came up to me and said, 'Hey, can I talk to you for a second?' It became a real possibility I could do it."

Kalamazoo College was the first school to reach out to Moir, who was a backup for the Bulldogs as a junior. She reached out to some colleges on her own, visiting Alma College during the process.

She took some time to think about Kalamazoo College's offer, took a visit and signed with the Hornets.

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"There were a lot of different factors," said Moir, the Livingston Daily's Athlete of the Week. "The school system is really spectacular. I want to go for psychology, and they have a really good program for that. The coaching staff I met, I just love them. They're so sweet and they were really open and made me feel really accepted."

Kalamazoo College will be getting a player who has made tremendous strides since last season. Moir has been an integral part of a Brighton team that has been contending for a KLAA West championship, averaging nine points, 6.4 rebounds and two steals.

"She's a lot more of an offensive threat," Brighton coach Bob Wellman said. "She's always been a good hard worker, good practice player. She gets her teammates ready, because she doesn't back off on them. She gets them playing harder, and when it comes to game time we're ready to play."

Moir's all-around game helped Brighton pull off a late comeback to beat Northville three nights before winning a pivotal rivalry game against Howell. She had six points and four steals against Northville, while getting 10 points and nine rebounds against Howell.

"It's been drastically different," Moir said. "I have a much bigger role and much bigger shoes to fill. Last year, I was more of a role player, kind of a sub player who came in off the bench and got whatever minutes I could. This year, being a senior and having seven of us, I've definitely had a much bigger role. We lost a lot of our seniors last year, so we had a lot of big shoes to fill."

Not only is Moir a key to Brighton's offense, she's often tasked with defending the opponent's best big girl. At 5-foot-8, she's almost always outsized in those matchups.

"As a Brighton basketball program, that's a lot of where our pride comes from is our defense," she said. "Defense has been instilled in me since I was a young kid here.

"I wasn't gifted to be very tall. I have to kind of take a little bit of the hits and understand that comes with the job. I kind of try my best to work as hard as I possibly can, because they're already ahead of me."

Contact Bill Khan at [email protected]. Follow him on X @BillKhan