Summer Creek High School junior Adaora Nwokeji excels on the court & in the classroom

As a freshman, Adaora Nwokeji walked in the door wooing everyone. She was the only freshman on varsity last season. Now, she's a leader and one of the top girls' high school basketball players in the state. She also runs track.

Part of the reason – she brings a relentless energy to the court which allows her to display her wonderful gifts.

"I take pride in my court vision and my mid-range. My mid-range, I've been working on it really hard. It makes the game so much easier," Adaora says.

That's not all.

"I have always loved her defense. Loved it. She was the defensive player of the year last year for our district. She has a, I call it a dog mentality, to where she likes to attack people on the defensive end and she doesn't want – I mean, it's a pride thing for her – she doesn't want to be outworked. It shows in her defense. You're not going by her. If you do, I'm going to sprint because you're not faster than me," says Summer Creek head basketball coach Carlesa Dixon.

It comes with being a leader and helping teammates win. Adaora is all about team.

"When I see my teammates doing well or scoring or, you know, getting stops on defense and stuff it brings energy to the game. It's really fun to watch them succeed and watch our team succeed," she says.

Adaora is also succeeding in the classroom.

"She's extremely studious. She's always prepared for everything," says teacher Caitlin Huber. "She brings her computer with her notes typed out, color coordinated, her textbook up and ready to go. She is ready. She's the first one to put her hand up for a correct answer, first one willing to participate."

Anatomy is one of Adaora's favorite classes, but she is a top student in all. She sports a 5.483 GPA, class rank 18 of 586, with a monster course load.

"First period I have AP English. Second period, I have AP U.S. history. Third and fourth, I have health science. Fifth period, I have this class, dual credit anatomy. Sixth period, I have AP US History and seventh period I have basketball," she says.

 She has loving parents. Mom is a doctor and dad is a surgeon. They've helped her set her priorities.

"God comes first. Family comes second. School, third. Athletics is last. And so school takes priority over athletics. It's always been really important to me," Adaora says.