Sometimes, Bree Horrocks is still surprised by the voice she’s hearing.
A year after forward Dominique McBryde barely said anything as a freshman, she’s done a 180, speaking up at every opportunity. The sophomore, a potential star-in-the-making, is embracing all that comes with that label: She’s directing, leading, asking for the ball; getting the Boilermakers organized.
“I like talkative Dom,” said Horrocks, a junior center. “It’s nice not being the only voice in the posts. It’s interesting not being the loudest one out there sometimes and it’s also interesting to hear her be so loud after last year.
“I’m like, ‘Who’s that talking?’ She knows what she’s saying and she’s doing really well. But she’s grown tremendously as a vocal leader on the court. It relieves a lot of pressure and is nice.”
McBryde’s transformation — in more ways than one — started in May, when the southern Indiana native stuck around for Maymester. She spent the month taking classes, but also trying to expand outside her personal comfort zone, no longer wanting to be the shy one who stood in the shadows.
Instead, she wanted to “find herself as an individual.”
“Because usually college kids, like regular students, have time to do that,” McBryde said, “but sometimes when you’re so busy, you can’t really express or figure out who you are as a person and that’s what college is all about. So in May, I wanted to really find myself as a person and get more mature, see myself as an individual more.
“… I was really shy last year and now everyone sees the change. I’ve opened up a lot more, really expressing who I am as a person.”
It’s a change. McBryde talks, jokes — she sings, although she’s not sure her teammates appreciate that as much — and is just more outgoing.
But May afforded her basketball opportunities, also. The 6-foot-2 forward wanted to improve there, after a rookie season in which she showed great potential — a couple games of more than 20 points — but inconsistency. She averaged 7.3 points and 4.3 rebounds per game.
McBryde, who called herself a “scrawny” post last season, tried to reshape her body, getting stronger to be able to battle better in the paint. And she worked on her ball-handling, perimeter shot and inside moves, trying her best to bring versatility to her already solid offensive repertoire.
“She wanted to separate herself, she has high goals for herself and this team,” Coach Sharon Versyp said. “The mindset is the first thing that has to change, then everything comes. But her body, she’s filled out, is so much stronger, she can bang inside and has done a really good job of working on her lateral movement. She’s one of our best passers, best rebounders, best scorers.”
Part of the retool was in her shooting motion, breaking it down to the ground, then building it back up. Previously, McBryde, a right-hander, brought the ball across her face on her jumpers, almost releasing it from the left side of her head. She worked on getting the motion on her right, getting a 90-degree bend at her elbow and finding a consistent release point.
“It’s like staring over again with fundamental basics,” McBryde said. “… It was frustrating at times when I would sometimes revert back to my old shot, but doing it over and over again, I’m starting to really focus in on what I need to improve on and what I need to look for in my new shot.”
If McBryde can add a perimeter game to her inside presence, then she’s going to prove to be an even more difficult matchup for defenders.
Purdue likes that idea.
“I’ve seen a lot of improvement,” senior captain Ashley Morrissette said. “I noticed it as soon as she came back (for the summer), she was slimmer but still big, more lean more muscular. And in practice, we’ve seen her have more moves, more post moves now. She had a lot last year, but she has even more now. She’s as efficient as she was last year and even more so. And I definitely have seen her 15-foot game get a lot better and she’s definitely going to be able to shoot it from three. She’s very versatile.”
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