Tennessee’s Volunteers are sniffing around. Allegedly. As Colorado’s next big hoops thing wiped the tears from her eyes, Greg Crittendon’s phone went off like a hornet’s nest.
“I’ve got about five or six college coaches that texted before I got up the steps, wanting to talk to us later,” Crittendon told me, chuckling, from the upper deck at Denver Coliseum, where one season ended and the silly season began. Again.
“It’s the most upset I’ve seen her after a loss in my life. And I’m excited … because, to me, crying means you care.”
How could she not? A year ago, Brihanna Crittendon, Greg’s daughter, watched the Great 8 from these murky, musty Coliseum stands, fangirling over the Grandview combo of Lauren Betts and sister Sienna.
On Friday morning, she was back in the house, pouring in 28 points and snatching eight rebounds for Riverdale Ridge High. As a freshman. Despite having two D’Evelyn defenders bracketing her every step.
“It feels like a fever dream to me,” Bri cracked.
And for a while there, she had the favored and unbeaten Jaguars sweating. In a gutsy 54-47 loss, Crittendon put up 10 of the Ravens’ 22 first-half points, even as the Jags’ defense threw everything — double-teams, fronting, the works — at the freshman to try and gum up the works.
“Get ready to help, Becky!” D’Evelyn coach Chris Olson cried from the bench about three minutes into the game, pleading as the 6-foot-2 Crittendon posted up in the paint, reaching high for a pass.
“Here it comes!”
It came.
Bri took the feed cleanly and swished it anyway.
“I’m kind of used to it,” the younger Crittendon shrugged. “But it gives open opportunities for my teammates.”
Bri isn’t just taller than her ninth-grade peers. She’s wiser. She points. She organizes.
Crittendon routinely draws two defenders, sometimes three, taking them with her the way a tiny magnet does iron filings. Yet the Ravens’ young star also has the vision and wherewithal to look for — and feed — the open shooter on the wings. It’s a grown-up game with a little kid’s smile.
“She tried to get (her teammates) going,” Greg would say later, “and as the game went on, you could kind of see her (doing) her thing. But she didn’t go away from the script.”
For three quarters, Bri played within the plan. She deferred. She teased. Then, over the last four minutes, after D’Evelyn’s Payton Marvel had put the Jags up nine, the emergency brake came off.
The Ravens didn’t even try to use Crittendon as a decoy anymore. On three straight possessions, Bri dribbled the ball over the timeline, shifted into fifth gear, and soared into the lane, pulling The Ridge to within 52-47.
It became crystal clear why more than 15 Division I schools — CU, UCLA, Arizona and Texas A&M included — have already extended scholarship offers. And why Crittenton ranks as one of the top 25 prospects nationally, per ESPN.com and HoopGurlz, for the Class of 2026.
“I’m kind of like a utility player,” Bri explained. “I can go wherever the coaches need me. Depending on who we’re playing, how they’re going to play us. I could run 1 through 5.”
Crittendon came into the Great 8 averaging 31.3 points per game. The footwork and shot are already so smooth, so assured, that if she worked almost strictly in the paint as a prep, she might average 40 the rest of the way.
Bri wants more.
“People say I’m similar to (Boston Celtics star) Jayson Tatum,” Crittendon offered, “(because) I can go from the post to the 3, just get down the court easily. I’ve got the length and the same defense.”
She digs Candace Parker, too. Which is more than a little ironic, given how birdies are whispering that the storied Vols, Parker’s alma mater, have nudged into the recruiting picture.
“This is going to sound crazy,” Greg said, chuckling again. “I have to go (online) just to look as to who’s offered her, just to keep up. To me, it just kind of goes in one ear and out the other.”
He’s listening, though. Dad said the family plans a few campus visits this spring, just to test the waters. As he spoke, Bri stood inside a Coliseum portal. She was locked into a deep conversation with longtime trainer Jody Hollins, eyes dry and determined, plotting the first steps on the long road back.
“That’s always been our goal, to win a state championship,” the younger Crittendon vowed. “We’ll be back (at the Coliseum) next year. For sure. The job’s not done yet.”
