Article 211: Gabbing about Green

June 4, 2011

When a high school basketball freshman is 6-foot, the prospect for this player is already promising. But when she is a girl's basketball player, the potential becomes exponential and is worth gabbing about. Such is the case for St. Mary's of Berkeley talented freshman, Gabby Green.

This 2014 Panther was able to lead her team in points and assists averaging 10.1 and 4.1 respectively. She also chipped in 5.1 rebounds per game. The Panthers finished the season at 30-5 and runner-up in the state title game.

During the summer, Green plays for her EBX club team while also training with Bay Area basketball training guru, Donovan Blythe. Blythe, who used to be an assistant coach at Emery High when former Arkansas Razorback Darnell Robinson played there and now coaches for Eastside Prep, considers Green to be one of those special players. Blythe likens her to former Balboa High and WNBA player Brandy Reed because of her length and versatility.

"Gabby's strengths are her versatility and ability to play multiple positions," said Blythe. "Her court sense, ball handling and passing ability is excellent for a girl her size. She's a very good rebounding guard/wing. Her length on defense gives other guards and even wings problems. She is a very unselfish player as well. She is also very athletic with very good body control for a girl of her age/height. On the court, she has great demeanor. Doesn't look to score first all the time and can make a tremendous impact on the game without having to score a lot."

Green has the height, wingspan, and quickness to play either guard position or at small forward. She has the ability to defend any player on the floor except center. Both of Green's parents are in excess of 6-foot-1 and that portends her being also taller before she leaves high school. Her father, Will Green, played small forward at 6-foot-4 at Cal State Hayward.

Growing up, Green's father tried to steer his daughter towards tennis but Gabby found basketball to be more enjoyable and had natural ability for the sport. As a parent, her father has had great joy in watching her grow and develop in basketball as he believes basketball has been easy for her because it has been fun for her.

Green's physical attributes and basketball potential would project her to being a Kevin Durant type of player. She should be able to handle the ball with ease while having the size to separate for her own perimeter shot. She will have the length and size to cause matchup problems on the perimeter or in the paint.

Recently, Green was invited to Colorado for the USA Basketball Women's U16 National Team trials. In the end, she did not make the cut as the roster of twelve had only three 2014 members. Green says, "The experience was very memorable as I will always take great things from this even though I didn't make the team. It was a fun experience and I would love to come back and meet new people. I didn't know anyone that was invited but all the girls were very fun and outgoing and that was a very good experience to do."

According to Green's father, Gabby has basically been contacted by several BCS programs. And several of these programs have offers out to her. Green expects to attend the Cal camp this summer as well.

In this past season, Green was a starter at point guard on a state title contending team. That is impressive enough. She has the potential to be a Top 5 national prospect in her class. Intriguing! In 2014, Green will possibly have the chance to be an impact freshman at a major college program. That is really, really something worth gabbing about.