Beerwinkle continuing basketball career at HSU

Springlake-Earth senior, Sayler Beerwinkle, signed her Letter of Intent on Monday to continue her academic and athletic career at Hardin Simmons University.

She talked about the signing, saying, “I have mixed emotions about it. I’m really excited, but I’m nervous and don’t really know what to expect, but I’m really grateful that I have this opportunity.”

Beerwinkle was a four-year starter for the Springlake-Earth Lady Wolverines’ varsity basketball team, where she finished her career with 1,596 points (she missed half of her soph. more year due to injury).

She had 222 rebounds, 84 steals, 72 assists during her senior campaign. She averaged 15.5 points, 9.8 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 3.6 steals during her senior year.

She talked about when she realized she wanted to play at the nxt level, saying, “When I broke my leg during my sophomore year and I went to the doctor and they told me it was hurt and I couldn’t play. It hurt me to watch my teammates out there without me and that is when I realized that I wanted to do this in the future.”

She added, “At first, I didn’t think it was going to happen because I was putting my self out there and was kind of getting rejected. But after I went to their campus and met the coaches and people there, I fell in love with the campus and they gave me an offer and it just felt right. I reached out to Hardin Simmons during the Wildcat Classic this past season and they told me to send them some film and the assistant coach called me and asked if I wanted to come for a visit. I waited a couple of weeks and found a day I could go and then I went to visit and everything just fell into place.”

Sayler’s mom, Sarah Weldon talked about being able to see her daughter continue her career at the next level, saying, “Before Sayler started her senior year, we talked a lot about how much I was going to miss being here with her and seeing her play. She had talked on and off about wanting to go play at the next level, but you never know what is going to happen, or if she is going to get an offer or not.”

She added, “When we went to Hardin Simmons if felt like God sent us there for a reason. The coaches were great and they’re mostly focused on a family atmosphere and the team and helping each other out. Obviously, they’re basketball coaches and they want to win, but they keep telling us that is not the most important thing. Coach K is trying to rebuild the program; she played there and was on the team the last time they won the conference tournament. I will be stepping down from coaching next season and am going to go watch Sayler as much as I can and focus on her and my kids.”

Beerwinkle made the play-offs all four years of high school and helped the Lady Wolverines earn a district championship during her junior and senior campaign’s. During her senior year, she helped the team to a bi-district and Area championship, before they fell to Nazareth in the Regional Quarterfinal.

“I’ve seen myself grow on the court a lot,” she said. “As a freshman, I did start, but I wasn’t outstanding, I was not confident in my skills. After I hurt my leg, it kind of hurt me bad. I was sad and felt like I wasn’t going to be the same player again. Then my junior season was probably my best season and I used that to fuel me to do better and I grew from there during my senior year.”

Beerwinkle talked about what she is most looking forward to about playing at the next level, saying, “Getting better as a whole and playing with girls who really want to be out there, girls who are like me, I guess you could say. I’m excited to make friends with the girl’s on the team, that is what I’m mainly looking forward to.”

She talked about what it has meant to her to represent Springlake-Earth over the last few years, saying, “I’ve been blessed to be able to grow up in a small town and be as successful as I have been and I owe it all to my teammates that I have played with and my coaches. I think coming from a small school has helped me get to a university, but I owe it all to coming from a small school.”

The senior talked about some of her favorite basketball memories, saying, “The memory I remember clearly is after a game we all had to go back on the court and that is when I was presented with my 1,000-point plaque. And then, this year, winning multiple gold balls was pretty cool because I hadn’t had that experience, so it made up for losing in the first round my freshman and sophomore years.”

Beerwinkle was the District MVP her junior and senior years with unanimous votes.

“Everyone told us that if she wouldn’t have gotten injured her sophomore year, she would have been the district MVP that year as well,” Coach Been said.

Sayler also earned TABC All-Region selections as a junior and senior; Texas Six-Man Coaches Association All-Region first team, All-State first team and she will be representing Springlake-Earth in July at the Six-Man Coaches Association in Big Spring.

“They’re getting a class act kid in Sayler, you’ve never heard of her being involved in any disciplinary problems,” the coach said. “She may not be a vocal leader, but she is a leader in what she does. Sayler, has been a constant ever since I came back to coaching six years ago. Her character is awesome.”

Beerwinkle said her family has been huge supporters her entire career.

“My family has supported me a lot, especially my mom and the twins,” she said. “My mom doesn’t care where I go as long as I am happy being there, and my dad is kind of the same, he is happy for me too.”

Beerwinkle plans to major in communications at HSU.