School’s out for summer, but elite student-athletes are busier than ever. They are attending skills camps, improving their strength and conditioning, traveling the country for prestigious competitions, and navigating the wild world of recruiting. In this new Summer Daze series, The Herald checks
in with local prep standouts to see how they are handling their exciting but hectic summer sports schedule.
Margreet Barhoum
Meadowdale High School basketball Class of 2012
Rewind
During her outstanding junior season, 5-foot-8 guard Margreet Barhoum aver
aged 22 points, 4.0 assists and 3.2 steals per game for the Meadowdale High School girls basketball team. She received Herald All-Area First Team and All-Wesco 3A First Team honors. The speedy senior-to-be is a dangerous scorer who made 58 percent of her field goals and 45 percent of her 3-point attempts this past winter.
What’s next
This summer Barhoum will play AAU ball for the Vancouver-based Columbia Cascades, coached by Al Aldridge. The high-profile squad will travel across the country to compete against top-notch foes in prestigious tournaments.
After coaching at Meadowdale High’s youth basketball camp Monday through Thursday this week in Lynnwood, Barhoum headed south to join the Cascades, who will have three-a-day practices (!) during the week and participate in the End of the Trail Tournament in Oregon City the next two weekends.
After that, Barhoum’s action-packed July includes:
*July 10-13: Nike Summer Showcase Tournament in Chicago.
*July 22-25: Music City Madness Tournament in Tennessee.
*July 28-31: MidSummer Nights Madness Tournament in San Diego.
“I’m excited,” Barhoum said, “because it’s going to be high pressure, but that’s kind of what sports are about — playing in high-pressure games, high-pressure moments.”
The recruiting trail
“It’s a big summer for college recruiting,” said Barhoum, who has had frequent communication with at least six NCAA Division-I coaches and one Division-II coach. “It’s going to be exciting to know by the end of the summer, or have an idea of, where I’m going to be for college.”
Most of the programs recruiting Barhoum are located in the Northwest or further down the West Coast.
Pay to play
Aldridge, coach of the AAU Columbia Cascades, “really knows what he’s doing. He’s well-connected and he understands the game like nobody I’ve ever talked to about basketball,” Barhoum said. Playing for the Cascades is pricey: Each player pays a $3,800 fee. That only covers July, and doesn’t include food or parents’ travel costs.
Always improving
The best players never stop trying to get better. Asked what areas of her game she is trying to enhance, Barhoum said: “I’m working on my left hand and stepping up my defensive game, definitely. Those are probably my two main goals this summer.”
Killer workout
Barhoum’s primary personal trainer is former Stanwood High star and University of Washington sharpshooter Ryan Appleby. In addition, she does grueling CrossFit workouts to boost her strength and conditioning. “Those are REALLY intense,” she said of the CrossFit sessions, which include brief but exhausting timed rotations of weight lifting and aerobic exercises.
Barhoum + Barhoum
Looking ahead to her senior season at Meadowdale, Barhoum can’t wait to play side by side with her sister, sophomore-to-be guard Jaclyn Barhoum. As a freshman, Jaclyn starred on the Mavericks’ junior-varsity squad. She has a chance to make an impact on varsity in 2011-2012, Margreet said: “It will be really fun. I played with her this (spring) and she’s kind of my little buddy on the court. She’s a good little player and she can definitely help us a lot this year.”
Her biggest fan
When Margreet Barhoum is playing basketball, you can bet that her little brother, 11-year-old Daniel, is cheering in the bleachers. Daniel is Margreet’s biggest fan and can rattle off all of her stats on cue.
Ear candy
Barhoum’s summer soundtrack includes songs by artists such as rapper Wiz Khalifa, teen pop star Justin Bieber (“I have Bieber Fever, for sure!” Barhoum beamed.) and country crossover standout Taylor Swift. In September Barhoum is going to see the mega-popular Swift in concert at KeyArena.
Free time
Although she is incredibly focused on hoops and earning a college scholarship, Barhoum knows it’s important to maintain a balance. “I definitely have a life outside of basketball,” she said. “I think it’s important to have that because if you always do basketball you can get burned out pretty quick.” Off the court, Barhoum likes shopping and hanging out at the beach.
Snack time
Barhoum loves getting frozen yogurt at Menchie’s at Northpointe in Lynnwood. According to the store’s Facebook page, on a recent day the yogurt flavors available were Dutch Chocolate, Vanilla Snow, Peanut Butter, Irish Mint, Cupcake, Red Velvet Cake, Tart, Blueberry Pomegranate Tart, Cookies-n-Cream, Snickerdoodle, Blueberry Burst, Kiwi Strawberry Sorbet, Cinnamon Bun and Lo Carb Devils Food Cake.
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