Anyone who watches Maryam Dauda these days would find it difficult to imagine a time when she didn't care for basketball.

Bentonville's 6-foot-4 junior post, however, admits the sport really never crossed her mind much until she was in the sixth grade when her family moved to Bentonville from Nigeria and she began to attend Elm Tree Elementary.

"I wasn't a huge sports fan or whatever," Dauda said. "During PE one day, we were playing basketball, and my PE teacher said, 'Oh, you should try out for a BBC (Bentonville Basketball Club) team and see if you like it.' And I said, 'No, I wasn't playing basketball.'"

Because Dauda didn't care that much for basketball at the time, she said it was an awkward situation when she was introduced to Bentonville coach Tom Halbmaier for the first time. But Halbmaier is thankful that physical education teacher Timothy Keith was persistent in talking to Dauda about basketball, particularly about the Lady Tigers' program.

Otherwise, he may not have had the opportunity to coach a player who is now listed as one of the top high school players in the country -- including the nation's top-rated post player in her graduating class of 2021-- and somebody who has rewritten a number of school records over the past three years.

"Somebody told me there was a 6-3 kid walking the halls over there," Halbmaier said. "A lot of times you hear rumors, and when somebody says a kid is 6-3, it's more like 5-10. I went over there, visited her and talked to her, and she was legit -- 6-3, maybe 6-2½. She had the body frame, the hands and the confidence.

"I looked at her, and I knew I needed her to play basketball ... if she wants to. What I want and what she wants are two different things. If they don't want to do it, they're not going to do it or not be the best at it. Ever since then, it's worked out pretty well. I'm glad she chose to play basketball."

Dauda may have balked at Keith's first discussion about basketball, but the visit with Halbmaier and a first-hand glance of a Bentonville practice were enough to change her mind. She then asked her father Ali -- a former professional basketball player in Europe -- about playing, and she spent time with him in the gym as well as playing on a Bentonville Basketball Club youth team.

Meanwhile, Halbmaier waited for the day Dauda could put on the Lady Tigers uniform until he could wait no longer. He made one thing clear -- once Dauda completed her eighth-grade season at Lincoln Junior High, she would skip freshman basketball and head straight to Bentonville's varsity team.

"It was a huge change," Dauda said. "But I was really excited to come up and play with Avery Hughes after getting to watch her play once. In junior high, I played every position, so moving up to the high-school level and having a point guard, I was really excited about it. Getting moved up and playing against some tough players was getting me ready for this time."

It didn't take long for Halbmaier to see the decision was a good one. In her third game with the Lady Tigers, Dauda broke the school's single-game record for blocked shots and rebounds and recorded a triple-double with 17 points, 24 rebounds and 10 blocked shots in a 56-41 victory at Gravette.

Since that time, Dauda has put her name into Bentonville's record book eight times, most recently the single-game records for points (36) and field goals made (14) during a Dec. 20 game against Conway. A ninth record could be broken during the Class 6A State Tournament since she is 20 rebounds away from the career rebound mark, and she's on pace to break the school's career records for scoring and field-goal percentage by the time her Lady Tigers career ends.

Her height advantage over most players she faces could allow Dauda to camp near the basket for a lot of easy shots, but that's not the case with her. She's been efficient away from the basket, hitting 16 of 39 (41 percent) from 3-point range and an impressive 73 of 90 (81.1 percent) from the free-throw line.

"I'd love for her to dunk it, but she's not into that," Halbmaier said. "She has the ability. She can grab the rim pretty good. But I want her to go ahead and, overall, improve her game, improve her shooting, free-throw shooting, post moves and stuff like that.

"To me, she's a complete player because she's willing to go ahead give the ball up. She's willing to just score 10 points in a game. She will do all that for the success of the team, so the maturity is there. I'm sure there are some personal goals she wants to achieve, but she'll never tell you or tell me. I just want her to enjoy it."

Her talents are well-known across the country as college coaches flock to her games, particularly when she plays on her summer teams. Arkansas coach Mike Neighbors and Baylor coach Kim Mulkey, as well as Bears assistant Sytia Messer, have been among those in attendance during Bentonville games this season, and Dauda has said she has received "a lot" of offers.

Her father makes the recruiting process easier by laying down the law, although Dauda said that doesn't stop her from receiving a multitude of text messages from college coaches. Dauda can only talk to coaches during weekends unless the coaches receive permission from her father ahead of time and he gives them her number.

Dauda, meanwhile, has said she has already turned down "about half" of the offers she received so far.

"When it's a college that we're not very interested in, he'll just tell them thanks for recruiting me," Dauda said. "If it's a college that would be somewhere I could see myself playing there, then he'll give them my number and help communicate with them. The first day that coaches could contact us, which was Sept. 1, was really stressful, but we got over it.

"I'm talking with them, but I'm not focusing on recruiting right now. I'm trying to make it to the state championship game and get that trophy."
