PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Brooklynn Haywood cuts off the question.
“Twenty-two. I know right here,” she says while pointing to her head.
The question she’s answering?
The number of Division I offers she has.
The Union High guard has been lighting up the AAU circuit this spring and summer, which has resulted in coaches lighting up her phone.
This time last year though, the class of 2026 recruit wasn’t getting nearly the offers she is now as coaches said she was too slow and not strong enough.
She addressed those issues, and the results speak for themselves.
“My dream has always been to play DI and get these offers and these goals and talk to these big-time schools. It just hadn’t been happening for me, but these past two months has been my dream come true. It’s like all my hard work has finally paid off, and it feels so good,” said Haywood with a big smile.
In those past two months, Haywood has been offered by virtually every school on the West Coast including perennial power Stanford as well as several power fives in the Midwest and several Ivy League schools.
No matter the name of the program, Brooklynn says she gets emotional every time a coach offers her.
“I was almost crying every time I would get one. It’s not the like the feeling of how excited or happy I got would go away with every offer. To this day, whenever I get an offer, I’m still just as excited as I was for the first one,” said Haywood.
The notoriety isn’t just among coaches.
Haywood has amassed quite a social following as well, to the tune of over 53,000 followers on Instagram.
Her dad runs her account though, which helps the guard keep everything in perspective.
“I want to live in the moment, and I have fun playing basketball, and I love it, and it’s my dream. I just want it to stay that way. I don’t want to get caught up on being on social media and having a lot of followers and having my videos get views. I let my dad handle all of that. I’ll stick to what I know best,” said the 5’9 point guard.
It certainly looks like Haywood is the next best in a line of female basketball stars to come from the area.
She takes that responsibility—especially in terms of her impact on others—very seriously.
“I want to be the best role model I can be because I want there to be a young girl that’s going to be better than I am at basketball,” said Haywood. “I want it to happen because I know people can do it. You just have to put in the time and put in the work, and if I show young girls I can do it, then they’re going to believe that they can do it too.”