EL DORADO, Kan. – Butler women's basketball forward Brittanie Brickhouse has had a winding path post-high school that has ultimately seen the 2019 Wichita South graduate playing important minutes for the 2023-2024 grizzlies.

Basketball has been in the Wichita native's life since she was young, and there was never much second thought until later in high school.

"I started playing when I was in 3rd or 4th grade," said Brickhouse. "That was the plan for me from then all the way through high school. When I got to high school (Wichita South), I started to figure out I wanted to try and play college basketball."

Brickhouse played the first three years of high school under head coach Antwain Scales (currently an assiatant for Wichita State WBB) and was a part of Scales' impressive run of four state championships at South High, being there for the first.

Things often change though, and Brickhouse had second thoughts on whether she was passionate about the game at some point during her junior season.

"I started to doubt whether I wanted to keep playing or not," she said. "I lost the love for the game at that point."

David Clark took over as head coach at South High ahead of Brickhouse's senior season and was reluctant to let the star post player walk away.

"My senior year we had a brand-new coach (Clark) come in and at that time I decided I didn't want to play anymore," Brickhouse said. "Coach Clark put together a team meeting and asked me to just finish out the year. I decided I did not want to quit this late and so I stuck it out. He brought the love for the game back for me. He made me want to keep playing and pursue a scholarship in college."

Brickhouse did in fact finish out the year. She played well enough to earn a spot on the Colby Community College Trojans roster where Scales was serving as head coach. Her first year of college basketball was 2020, right as Covid-19 ended most teams' seasons. Covid mixed with not enjoying herself at Colby led Brickhouse to decide she was through playing basketball."

"I went to play at Colby my freshman year and reverted back to the mindset of not wanting to play anymore," said Brickhouse. "Once covid hit I decided I was done. My friends and family thought I was kidding, but I really did quit basketball. I was not transferring or anything, I was done playing as well as done with school."

Brickhouse found a job at a local Wichita Wal-Mart and was spending time with family. She eventually got back into the education setting, looking for more stability at work. She took a job as a custodian at Truesdell Middle School in Wichita. That's where Clark decided it was time to see if he could convince Brickhouse to make a change again.

"Going to work at USD 259, it opened doors for me that I did not know I wanted opened," said Brickhouse. "Coach Clark took an athletic director's position at Wichita West High School. He got that job and got wind of me working at Truesdell. He called me up when I was at work during the summer and asked what I thought about coaching. I told him I don't want anything to do with basketball and he told me to come up to the school and just talk with him. I eventually decided it was a better opportunity compared to being a custodian so I accepted the position."

Brickhouse began coaching at West High during the 2022-23 school year. The Pioneers girls' basketball team was immediately hit with some tough times as they did not have enough girls to field a team and were forced to cut the season short.

"There was only enough girls for a varsity team, no other teams," said Brickhouse. "We had nine girls that could play, and when the season started everyone began getting hurt. We got down to six girls and half of them were dealing with injuries as well. We had to cancel the season."

That's when the thoughts of returning to the court began for Brickhouse, nudged along by Clark once again.

"The reason I am at Butler now is David Clark," she said. "Due to our low numbers on the team at West High, I would have to practice with the team a lot. Clark saw that and he knew I could still play. He encouraged me to go back to college and try to play and continue my schooling."

Neosho County eventually reached out to Brickhouse and she was seemingly set on going to play for the Panthers.

"I was supposed to go to Neosho but Ericka Mattingly (Butler assistant coach) reached out to me and asked me to bring the girls from West High to a game at Butler, to try and lift their spirits. She asked me about my future plans, not knowing I was thinking about playing again at Neosho. Once I told her that she asked me why I couldn't just play at Butler? She told me they could use me for sure."

Brickhouse ultimately decided to revive her career at Butler after a few meetings with Mattingly, head coach Mike Helmer and assistant coach Abby Fawcett. The rest is history for her.

"Things are going well now," said Brickhouse. "I love my teammates. When I first got here it was an adjustment since I was so much older than the rest of the team but they really welcomed me. They understand that I took two years off and it took me a little to get back into it."

Brickhouse has provided valuable minutes this season for Helmer's squad. She is playing 14.2 minutes per game, averaging 5.3 points and 4.8 rebounds pergame. On January 13th as Butler defeated Pratt CC 93-72 on the road, Brickhouse had a monster game. She had a career-high 24 points as well as pulling down a career-high 17 rebounds.

Due to NCAA rules, Brickhouse can only play at an NCAA Division 2 program once the season wraps up for the Grizzlies, and she has heard from several schools already.

"This season has been an emotional high," Brickhouse said. "I'm able to push myself because I practice against phenomenal post players in Freddie (Wallace), Tiana (Winn) and Sariyah (Williams).

When asked about making a return to coaching one day, Brickhouse chuckled in her response.

"I do like coaching," she said. "I could get back into it eventually but that is down the road for me. Right now I am just focusing on me. Before, I was putting everyone else first but now being at Butler, it gives me the opportunity to focus on my own goals."

"This place (Butler) is a family. Everything has been worth it. I would not change anything in my life path. Everything I went through to get here; it was definitely worth it."

** Varsity Kansas Article on the Wichita West Girls Basketball Season Cancellation **