It is safe to say that Houston Village School junior forward Jada Malone continues to add to an already illustrious prep career.
Coming off a sophomore season in which she and the Vikings reached the state championship game but lost, Malone is already one of the program’s most productive and decorated players and is expected to help lead it to the ultimate prize.
“Jada’s going to continue to be a big focal point in our program,” head coach Doug Brotherton told Texas Scorecard. “She’s happened to take on more of a leadership role this year. We have a really talented team, and that’s really important.”
According to Brotherton, Malone epitomizes the team’s three core values: relationships, trusting the process, and finding ways to get better each day. He marveled at the forward’s newfound three-point shot, and expressed admiration for her versatility.
“She does a really good job at continuing to compete and bringing the best out of her teammates,” Brotherton said. “That’s going to be very important for us as we move forward into the year. But we do feel like if we have the opportunity to go in [and win] a state championship, it’s a byproduct of our daily habits. It’ll all start and end with us collectively doing it as a group.”
The coach further described the 6-foot-4-inch Malone as a non-traditional post player since she thrives in the Village School’s very up-tempo system.
“We don’t call her a post player because she’s much more skilled than your traditional post player,” Brotherton said. “She can put it on the floor and do a lot of things really, really well, so we list her as a forward.”
A three-year letter-winner under Brotheron, Malone earned TAPPS first team, all-state honors and has the attention of several Division I schools as a four-star recruit. With a propensity to score around 22 points and snare at least 10 rebounds per contest, she is on pace to reach the 3,000-point threshold, as well as set or break most records at The Village School.
“Ultimately, the best thing I can say about Jada is she does a tremendous job impacting the relationships in our program and impacting winning,” Brotherton said.
As of press time, the Vikings are 13-1, with a few tournament appearances in the books. Looking toward the future, Brotherton foresees Malone, who already has more than 1,000 career points to her name, not resting on her laurels in what he calls a “historic” career for his protégé.
“She’s on pace to, obviously, be our winningest player of all time,” the coach said. “She’s having a pretty historic high school career as it relates to The Village School. She’s had a huge impact not only on our program but on our school because of the type of young lady she is and the family she’s grown up in. Jada Malone is a once-in-a-generation star player because of the type of person that she is. She’s low maintenance, she accepts coaching, she wants to get better and she cares about her teammates. I can coach Jada as hard as I want to coach her because of her desire to improve, so she is absolutely a once-in-a-generation person as it relates to being a star player.”
Though the Village School finished last year as the state runner-up, Brotherton still considered the season a huge success given the way the Vikings represented the school and the community. He hopes that the team will provide their first district championship banner with more company in the rafters, as well as establish a reputation as one of the best programs in Texas.
“Our girls are really on a mission, we don’t want to be considered a really good private school team or one of the best private school teams in the team,” Brotherton said. “We genuinely believe that we’re one of the best basketball teams in the state.”
