High school athletes with the ability to play at the next level are rare. Even more rare are high school athletes that possess the ability to play two sports at the next level.
Oak Hill standout Samiah Lynch is one of those rare two-sport athletes.
“Soccer definitely crossed my mind because I had played it for so long,” Lynch said. “I just really wanted to play basketball. I played soccer more, but I feel like I have had a deeper passion for basketball.”
Wednesday morning, surrounded by family, friends, teammates and coaches, Lynch realized her dream of playing college basketball by signing a National Letter of Intent with West Virginia Wesleyan.
The last time an Oak Hill girls basketball player signed to play at the next level was 2006.
“This is very exciting. I have worked really hard for this, so I have a lot of emotions right now,” Lynch said.
Oak Hill head girls basketball coach Darrel Compton has coached Lynch since her middle school playing days and knew she was destined for great things.
“She is a really special player. I coached her in middle school and even back then I told her she could do whatever she wanted. She is just that type of player and she proved that this year,” Compton said.
Compton has been at the high school the last two seasons and his team relied heavily on Lynch’s talents.
“Last year we had to lean on her to be the point guard, the shooting guard and do a little bit of everything,” Compton said. “This year she was able to spread out and do the things she does best. It opened our program up. We may have only had seven wins, but we were competitive with teams and that is what I wanted. A large part of us being competitive was Samiah being able to do what she does. She averaged a double-double this year.”
Along with being a great player, Lynch and her fellow seniors have accomplished something very special in their coaches eyes.
“Samiah changed the culture of girls basketball at Oak Hill High School. All of the seniors this year were on my first middle school team. We wanted to change the culture and Samiah was a big part of that,” Compton said. “They never stopped believing and they always played hard.”
West Virginia Wesleyan was always on Lynch’s radar, but not for sports originally.
“We sent my film around everywhere. (Wesleyan) messaged me back and said they liked what they saw on the film. I went up for a visit and it went from there,” Lynch said. “I had always thought about Wesleyan because academically it is a really good school. Getting to play sports also is just awesome.”
Quality academics, as well as being given the opportunity to play the sport she loves were two key parts of the equation in Lynch’s college decision. The icing on the cake came when she made the trip to Buckhannon.
“The campus was beautiful, but it was the people. They made me feel at home, which is important being away from my home and away from my family,” Lynch said. “Change is always difficult, but everyone I met up there made me feel welcome.”
The official visit also helped Lynch decide on the major she might pursue in college.
“I knew I wanted to do something in the medical field. When I went up on my visit, I was talking to them about exercise science or training, something like that,” Lynch said.
Highly talented with a huge upside that is just waiting to be unleashed, Lynch is already focused on what she needs to work on to succeed at Wesleyan.
“I obviously need to get stronger. The competition in college is much different than high school,” Lynch said. “I need to work on the little things in my game, like ball-handling and shooting. I can always get better in those areas. I will also need to adjust to the faster pace of college which I think will come over time as I get used to it.”
