MISSION — Edinburg High’s Janai Coleman had only been playing basketball for two years before jumping into the Rio Grande Valley’s high school basketball scene, but it didn’t take long for her to make a big splash.
The Bobcats’ freshman center quickly asserted herself as a physical presence in the paint and one of the Valley’s most dominant two-way players on the hardwood.
For her work on the court in her varsity debut with one of the RGV’s perennial powers, Coleman has been named The Monitor’s All-Area Girls Basketball Newcomer of the Year for the 2020-21 season.
“I thought it was just going to be an average freshman year,” Coleman said. “(But) it feels pretty good. It puts us at the top. I feel like I’m a player that can try to do everything. I’m a player that’s stepping up their game on the outside too. I’m very prideful of myself.”
Coleman was the most consistent starter among a quartet of freshmen phenoms at Edinburg High.
She stepped into a large pair of shoes and took over for former Valley high school star Brianna Sanchez, now a member of the UTRGV Vaqueros, in Edinburg High’s starting five.
The transition was nearly seamless.
Coleman’s versatility on the floor made her an instant fit in the Bobcats’ offense as the team’s lynchpin down low.
“I’ve been a post for two years and it hasn’t always been easy. This year I had the opportunity to be a starting post and I think I did a pretty decent job,” she said. “I practice a lot in the low post and I try to play outside too. I’m learning how to play outside more and more,” she said.
Coleman stepped up and became the only freshman starter throughout the Rio Grande Valley to average a double-double this season.
The freshman standout tallied 10.3 points, a team-high 10.5 rebounds, 1.7 steals and 1.2 blocks as her confidence and capabilities grew as the season progressed.
Coleman’s combination of size and speed made her an invaluable defender down low and in the Bobcats’ full-court press, which also allowed her to stretch the floor as a shooter and create space and mismatches offensively.
“Even at 15 years old I was already taller than half of the kids here, so I knew I was going to be a post. Being a post is hard, but it’s perfect for me because I can jump and I have enough speed to keep up with most of the posts here,” Coleman said.
“I try to be an all-around player. … I know if I’m going to college, there’s going to be 12 players out there and I’m going to have to learn to play both ways. Learn how to play outside, shoot 3s and shoot more.”
Coleman’s confidence grew throughout the season as she developed into an elite playmaker on both ends of the floor.
She went toe-to-toe with a slew of the RGV’s top post players in Class 6A and frequently came out ahead of players with two or three years more of varsity experience.
“I did have a lot of confidence, although I was scared for a couple of games where I was playing against older girls,” Coleman said. “But it did give me a lot (more) confidence to see that I could handle seniors and juniors. That was cool in only my first year.”
Coleman also routinely punished opposing players for going after rebounds.
She nearly always prevailed in the battle on the boards and gave her team a decisive edge in the interior.
When she couldn’t, she always made sure there would be a price to pay.
“I feel like I did a great job on all that, especially my rebounding skills,” Coleman said. “The most rebounds I got (in a game) was 22. I didn’t even know I could get that many rebounds, so that was pretty surreal getting in the 20s. I feel like I contributed a lot for my team to get them more points and putbacks.”
“If they end up getting the rebound, I’ll try getting the jump ball to get it to my team or try to get them to inbound, mess up and take it,” she added.
Coleman’s grit and toughness down low helped Edinburg High capture its fifth straight district championship during one of the Rio Grande Valley’s most dominant regular seasons.
The Bobcats climbed as high as 11th overall in the Texas Girls Coaches Association Class 6A statewide rankings on the strength of a 21-5 campaign and a near-perfect run through District 31-6A.
Coleman was consequently named 31-6A’s Newcomer of the Year while two of her senior teammates — A’nnika Saenz and Daysha Tijerina — were tabbed as the district’s co-Most Valuable Players.
The Edinburg High freshman credits Saenz, Tijerina and fellow senior Julissah Santa Maria for helping her grow and adapt to the pressures of high-level high school basketball.
“It felt really awesome to be on a successful team,” she said. “I didn’t know I was going to be starting when this freshman year started back in December. But I’m really happy that I did start and play my part on the team and contribute to all this winning and for the seniors’ last year, too.”
Coleman and the Bobcats advanced to the 6A regional quarterfinals after crushing Los Fresnos and squeaking by San Antonio Warren in the first two rounds of the playoffs.
Edinburg High met RGV rival Harlingen High at Bert Ogden Arena in Round 3 for a postseason battle that Coleman and her teammates won’t forget.
That memory is what’s fueling Coleman and her Bobcats teammates to run it back next season and continue the winning tradition at Edinburg High into the foreseeable future.
“I felt like you were an all-star. It made you feel good,” she said. “It was sad that we lost that game, but we have many more years moving forward without the seniors. … This team is going to try to get better, and on a personal level, become better friends and try to play basketball together as a team.”
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Twitter: @ByAndyMcCulloch
