A picture of a two-year-old Bryana Jalisa Block walking around her birthday party with a basketball in hand was foreshadowing of the next 12 years and counting. 

Bryana is a 14-year-old baller! The LE freshman has a fire for basketball and a heart for God. The genesis of Bryana's basketball career began at age 6 at a local Boys & Girls Club. The BLOCK has been hot ever since!

Three years ago she began playing summer ball and this year she was selected to play for the prestigious Arkansas Mavs Elite out of Little Rock under the direction of Coach Edward Durham.

Bryana dedicates a lot of time to becoming one of the best to ever play the game. Her work ethic is unparalleled and in a recent interview (video below), she shared her daily routine. She shared the following with our listening audience:

 I go to summer workouts. And then I come home, and probably take a little nap and take a shower. Then I go outside... just to get some shots up. And then I go to training.

Bryana, plays basketball year-round, playing for both; an AAU team, Arkansas Mavs Elite and her school, the Liberty Eylau Leopards. As an incoming freshman, Bryana will play varsity ball next fall. Like any athlete, she has to keep herself motivated So, I asked her, "When you're tired, what keeps you going?". She shared the following words of wisdom:

My phrase... M.T.IP. It means Make the Impossible Possible. It just motivates me to beat the odds and strive for greatness.

Bryana is always striving to get better and working towards perfecting her craft. She LOVES basketball. Her dream is to attend a D1 university and play basketball. She also wants to be a WNBA player one day, like Texarkana native, Imani Wright. Wright also graduated from Liberty-Eylau High School and played on the Mavs Elite AAU team under the direction of Coach Edward Durham. She now plays in the WNBA for the Phoenix Mercury team.

Bryana is blessed to have a mother who is passionate about HER passion for the game of basketball. LaKeisha  Willingham Willis, a single mother, transports Bryana to and from Little Rock weekly (sometimes multiple times) for practice. In June, alone, she and her mom traveled to  East Texas Baptist University, University of Houston, Mississippi State University and University of Arkansas-Little Rock for basketball camps.

Bryana has 4 tournaments coming up in July: Two in the Dallas area and two in Atlanta, GA. She and her mother will be on the road for almost 20 days. In effort to help with expenses, Bryana is having a fundraiser to help offset costs for her mom. Her fundraiser is very unique.  She is selling 1500 thread count bed sheet sets and bamboo memory foam pillows from Luxurious Linen. The are $35 each and 100% of the profits go towards her travel expenses for her basketball trips. 
Bryana is also accepting donations to help with these expenses as well via cash app or in person. Her cash app is: $TheBlockIsHot2022 

Click below to see my exclusive video with future Mrs. WNBA, Bryana Block.

More information about Bryana "The Block is Hot" Block:

  • She led the schools 7th & 8th grade team to district championship titles both years as the leading scorer (Her position: point guard and shooting guard
  • She is a national junior honor society student
  • She makes straight A’s.
  • This year she was honored for: Top Female Student in Social Studies, Member of National Junior Honor Society, and Core Subject Top Ten Female Student.
  • She was voted by her peers as a class favorite in two categories:
    Most Athletic Girl and Best Dressed Girl!!!

 

More From Majic 93.3