Texas signee turned in 27 double-doubles on the season while averaging more than 25 points

By Buck Ringgold

Leadership is an important characteristic for Addison Bjorn.

It was even more pivotal in her senior season at Park Hill South High School. As one of just a handful of seniors on the team, Bjorn – a 6-foot-2 small forward – felt she wanted to utilize her leadership skills to the max.

“Leadership is really important and I feel like it comes off the court just as much, but on the court, it’s just being that person that goes to another person that if coach needs something done, I can do it,” Bjorn said. “And honestly, you need a leader on a team to take initiative and be that person because without a leader, your team will crumble.

“And I thought that’s why we were so successful is because we had multiple leaders. A lot of the seniors were very vocal and it wasn’t just me, so it was showing that everybody was willing to help and do whatever it took to make our season go the way it did, which was amazing.”

Bjorn also got things done for her team with her play. She averaged a double-double, 25.7 points and 14.3 rebounds to go along with 2.6 assists, 1.9 blocks and 1.8 steals for a team that finished 22-7. Bjorn was also 49.5% from the field, making 246-of-497 attempts.

“I thought that we, honestly, had a fantastic season,” Bjorn said. “We were coming back with not a lot of seniors; we had four seniors. And so I knew that this year was gonna be more of a challenge for us.

“We had a lot of young talent; we had two freshmen that played big minutes for us. And honestly, we had a really successful season. We had a big winning record and we played some really good talent and I think that just our culture off the court was so important to our success on the court a

nd we had a fun season.”

Bjorn started her senior year with a bang, pouring in 48 points on 14-of-23 shooting in a win against Liberty North. She also had 16 rebounds and two blocks.

“I felt like a lot of teams under-looked us and that was because we had lost a ton of talent and I thought that we kind of shocked a lot of people with that first win right out to open up the gate,” Bjorn said. “And it was my best game not even just because of the points, but just because it showed my capability and just my want to win.

“I will do whatever it takes, and if that means I gotta score all those points, then I will do it. And I think that’s from then on, my team really started to get comfortable and also have the confidence to go score and do that, and that’s why we also were so successful.”

Later in the season against that same Liberty North squad in the district semifinal playoffs, Bjorn scored 43 points while grabbing 16 boards.

For the season, Bjorn had nine games in which she scored at least 30 points, and recorded double-doubles in 27 of her team’s 29 games.

“A really important key to us winning is playing fast, and it was easy for me to just go get those rebounds and outlet it out to my teammates and have that trust in them to go get a bucket as well,” she said.

Now, Bjorn heads to the University of Texas, joining a squad that is coming off back-to-back trips to the Women’s Final Four.

“What attracted me to go to Texas was just the relationships,” Bjorn said. “I had a relationship with Coach (Vic) Schaefer all the way down to the assistant coaches. And I thought that that was really important to me, that I not only had a great relationship with the head coach, but it also went down to the assistant coaches.

“Because I know that on my hard days, I’m going to have to lean on some of my assistant coaches, and I felt that from them. … And then obviously just the winning culture at Texas, and I’m just ready to work and do whatever it takes to get us back to that level this next season, get us back to the Final Four and hopefully win a national championship.”

Photos by Addison Bjorn