Two Midland Trail athletes make college choice
Apr. 14—It wasn't the final high school basketball campaign Bryar Bailes envisioned.
Far from it, actually.
But, the Midland Trail High senior doesn't dwell on what might have been.
In a special ceremony Thursday in the Diane Blume Learning Center at MTHS, Bailes was joined by family, friends, teammates, coaches and administrators as he signed to attend Glenville State University and play basketball for the Pioneers.
"Man, this means everything for me," Bailes said. "I've worked for this my whole entire life. It is just a dream come true. I've dreamed of this since the sixth grade whenever I started playing.
"It's just hard to talk about with the adversity I've had this year."
Bailes was scoring 14.2 points a game through five games for the Patriots as they started out strong en route to an eventual Class AAA state ranking and a final record of 18-5. Early in the campaign, though, he suffered a torn ACL and meniscus injury that put him on the shelf until late in the season.
In 13 games played, he wound up averaging 7.5 points per game for the Patriots.
"I expected a big senior season, but of course the ACL tear, that kind of put that back," he said. "But, when adversity hits, you've got to find the adversity and fight through it. You've just got to trust God's process, and that's what I've done and it's worked out for me pretty well."
Recovery is underway as he looks forward to making a contribution for the Pioneers beginning this fall. "Recovery is going pretty well," said Bailes. "I'm about three weeks in, and just going to physical therapy three or four times a week has been the biggest thing."
He said Glenville "has been the number one school (of choice) for a while, and I finally got it."
Bailes is undecided on his academic field of study, but he expects it will be related to becoming a physical therapist, which is his aim.
He realizes he still has some ways to go to be fully prepared for Mountain East Conference action. "I'm probably going to redshirt my freshman year," Bailes said. He said he isn't concerned whether he'll make it back and be ready when he gets the call. "No, I think the way I work and stuff, I'll be totally fine. I'm going to start strengthening it in about three weeks. It's just going to be all go from there."
"It was hard at times, but at the same time, I knew my guys had me," he said of not being able to play a complete season for Midland Trail. "We ended up having a real good season but just fell short in the sectionals. I knew they were going to do totally fine without me. Some of them had to step up. I just felt like a coach out there, so I felt like I was still part of the team 100 percent."
Through all the adversity, Bailes said God guided him. "Oh, yeah. I can't thank Him enough. He's took me through. He's been with me through the ups and downs."
To strengthen his game to play at the next level, Bailes says he has to improve on his physicality. "I've got to stay in the weight room, of course," he said.
Increasing his basketball IQ is a must, as well. "I think the first year will be a really good learning year for me. I just feel that's what I need, and redshirting would be a great idea for me. The physicality, I feel, will be a big change. It's going to be a big jump for sure, but I fee like I can do whatever I can put my mind to."
"It wasn't a good senior year for him playing-wise, but just what he brought to our team was great," said Midland Trail head coach Curtis Miller. "From when he came in June, he instilled a work ethic in our team. They saw a kid that would get in the gym every day, and those young guys look up to him.
"We had a gym full of guys every day wanting to get better. That's carried over to this year now that he's gone. We still have guys that want to get in the gym and get better. So, just his leadership and approach to the game has changed the culture here at Trail, I think."
Miller felt bad for Bailes when his injury took him out of the lineup. "It sucks the way it went down; I hate that for him," he said. "But I'm super happy that he did get a chance to go play college ball, because he's good enough to play college basketball.
"And all he wanted was a chance. He really wanted to go to Glenville, so I'm glad they're giving him that chance."
----Midland Trail senior Trinity Wilson, a four-year player, signed recently to enroll at WVU Tech in Beckley and compete for the Golden Bears softball team.
"I'm really excited," she said. "My sophomore year opened my eyes and I realized I wanted to continue playing through college. I started working extra hard in the offseason. Amber Atha (the WVU Tech coach) helped me with a bunch of stuff. She helped with my swing (as batting coach). She helped me through a bunch of problems I was having and taught me a bunch of stuff.
"My junior year I came out and was a whole different softball player."
Wilson plays first base and in the outfield for the Patriots, as well as handing the DH role at times.
In what areas must she improve to succeed at Tech? "Right now, I'm very picky with pitches, so I'd like to be less picky," she says. "And, outfield is a major thing because they want me to play outfield."
"I had a lot of fun (at Trail)," she said. "We got to go to states (freshman and sophomore years), and that was an experience that I'll never forget.
"The junior and senior years have had its ups and downs, but it's been really fun."
"It (signing to play for Tech) means a lot, because I didn't think I'd every get here," Wilson concluded. "My coaches helped me, Candace and Darin (Young and Minor), in the work, and Michael (Dickerson) last year before he stopped coaching. They believed in me and helped me push to be better."
Wilson intends to be a pre-med major, studying biology to become a physician's assistant.
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