Looking around the concrete court, one detail stuck out to her: she was the only girl.
Despite the glaring difference between her and her peers, she was the first person to be picked by the team captains in a friendly game of basketball.
She thought to herself: I must be pretty good if I was one of the first ones chosen for the team.
In that moment, a lifelong passion was sparked in head coach Lisa Branch. Despite playing a multitude of sports throughout middle school, basketball had a special grasp on her heart. It’s all she wanted to do in the future.
In seventh grade, Branch started being recruited by Division 1 programs to play at the next level. Branch said the distinct memory of her coach coming into practice with a Texas A&M briefcase and telling her all about the college is still present. Upon entering high school, she was ranked as one of the top players in the state of Texas. As Branch’s achievements added up, so did her offers.
“At that time, I really didn’t know what [the letters] were,” Branch said. “No one in my family had ever received any kind of athletic recognition. It was all so new.”
In the fifth game of Branch’s junior season, she tore her ACL. Not being able to return to play until the second half of her senior season, Branch watched her collegiate offers slip away — all but four. Once she recovered from the injury, Branch chose to further her basketball career at A&M.
“[The injury] was a low point in my life,” Branch said. “I didn’t want to sign early because I still wasn’t 100% with my knee. So when it was time to take recruiting visits, I stayed loyal to the four schools who stayed loyal to me.”
Branch finished her career at A&M as an All-American and the school’s all-time leading scorer. She joined the ABL (American Basketball League), playing a brief stint for the Colorado Explosions. Despite a productive career, long term effects from her torn ACL led to an early retirement. From there, Branch went into the world of coaching, finding a way to stay involved with the game she loved.
“I don’t know what I’d do if I weren’t coaching,” Branch said. “I love how every day is different. Every day is a new challenge. Being able to be a mentor for somebody [and] teach somebody means the world to me.”
