Pop that fire jumper from the top of the key in game! That’s the calling card of Brigita Bulotaite (Taft) as she makes that “dog sneeze.” That’s what they say in the deep south when the ball goes through the net over and over again.
This highly intelligent, humble, and sweet person that is Brigita has bigger goals than her high 45 degree crane perfect release. She wants to be a lawyer and go to a great school in the United States.
She’s been living here about 7 months from her home in Lithuania and getting used to the customs and the way of doing things here in the United States.
She misses her previous coach Lina Dambraskaité in Lithuania who taught her so much about life and how to work hard at the game.
Anytime someone connects with another person in a mentor-and-player dynamic, that’s a beautiful thing. You can tell there was great care shared for years between these two with their bond.
I’ll let this rising senior that lives in the San Fernando Valley tell it best about what the transition has been like for her and her awesome family, “My coach Lina used to push me and get me into working on my game every day, really into the details of my shot and cared about me as a person.
“I learned to work out every day and played for our KM Zalgiris team in Lithuania. I miss Lina, and am inspired to do much work in her honor besides my older sister who still lives over there.
“I still work on my game every day because Lina inspired me to have great work habits. My dad Mindaugas played basketball growing up and I noticed his love of the game. I got my love of the game and the idea to play from my dad I think.”
What the reader needs to know about is that Brigita is this amazing person your humble writer has rarely met, so articulate and smart.
Her mother Daiva is this super educated PhD level amazing person in biomedical sciences that is so caring and supportive of her daughter. You can’t help but root for this amazing family that stays in your heart after knowing them like I do. 100!
Brigita has picked up English so fast and well that you can barely detect an accent. She’s such a perfectionist at things she cares about. She carries a great 3.4 gpa and dreams of being a lawyer after college.
Brigita can be shy meeting new people as she has her set of friends. But she wants to meet more people so maybe this story will serve as an invite to others to introduce themselves to her, as she’s a newcomer to this country.
Ask yourself, how much culture shock of adapting to all the changes would the challenge be if your mom and dad an you moved across the world and you had to learn a new language and culture?
Let this story be a call to action to vibe Brigita’s mentality about basketball and her goals. Feel her express her thoughts and feelings, “I see people and want to make more friends. I have a strong love for animals and I am always trying to walk in nature.
“I have a lot of pets and I want to volunteer to help out at animal shelters when I get more free time. Right now I’m 7 days a week working out in the gym and practicing with my Paul George Elite basketball team that I love.
“I’m bonding with them and really appreciate Corey Wesson my coach and the director of the team. He’s such a good person and my team has faith in one another as we go up, up, up in our abilities together.”
Coach Wesson has great things to say about Brigita as well, “She works hard and is a blessing to those all around her. With continued patience Brigita will show all that she will be at the top of everyone’s list as a top player by the end of the summer with the continued great effort she shows for the game and her team.”
This is great praise given to her from an established real one in the community of basketball. Me, E-Woods, I hear fantastical praise heaped on Corey Wesson from all kinds of incredible D1 coaches.
The most accomplished Pac-12 coaches I know and other real one AAU coaches that are in it for the kids know all about Corey and his classy PG Elite program.
Corey has to be one of the most dynamic and caring mentors in all of girls AAU LA basketball. He’s also a trainer supreme helping to guide Brigita into her game this summer.
Brigita appreciates the way Giannis Antetokounmpo of the NBA plays. She says of him, “He plays aggressive, sees the court and dominates the play when he’s on the court.”
A real pro’s pro that also guides Brigita is Rob Valentine of Valentine Elite Basketball who himself is on his way to being a Mt. Rushmore figure in LA lore. He’s Brigita’s personal trainer and helps constitute that dream team that is assisting her to realize goals toward elite status.
Rob has done this in the past for Isaiah Elohim, a top ranked boys prep player at Sierra Canyon and Skyy and ZZ Clark who are now at Louisville. Rob has also worked with the amazing Essence Carson and Breanna Stewart of the WNBA.
Rob has these glowing words to say about Brigita, “Brigita is a gem. She is working on many things small that will turn into many things big. When her overall shape and conditioning is maximized and her hips are engaged to align with the force of her game she will start to dominate at an alarming rate.
“She loves to be in the gym and is about the work. She’s a great person and that’s a blessing.”
Click here for Rob Valentine feature story, part 1
When I first told Brigita about LL Cool J’s and The Notorious B.I.G.’s Going Back to Cali song she told me, “I haven’t heard of it.” Which is understandable considering the whole culture gap. It was my fav song when I was your age I told her.
But it is her complete coolness, drive, and zest to achieve that makes Brigita a truly amazing person who I could talk to all day. I feel lucky to count her as my friend and see her being ultra successful in life from her swag and work ethic.
I told her, “You are living the song, friend. This story will show others that you are deserving of respect and it’ll offer a chance for others to know you and want to meet you after reading it.
I see her erasing shots at the rim for her team, setting huge picks for teammates to get their shots off, and learning the game at such an exponential rate that it must make her head spin.
It inspires the heck out of me and almost bring tears to my eyes how much Brigita loves the game compared to everyone else. I feel lucky that she has confided in me her hopes for life and in the game she loves.
She’s so pure to the game of life and to basketball that it hurts. I’ve come to love all she represents with her awesome and humble manner.
Feel these LL Cool J lyrics. I predict the world will soon feel her game and appreciate her as well:
“I'm going back to Cali, risin’, surprisin’
Advisin’, realizin’, she's sizin’ me up.”
Brigita. She’s the one worth knowing; she is headed to law school after college, headed to be a pro player after college, and maybe headed to the WNBA in 6 years.
All because of her ultra hard work, incredible skills, and sacrifice. She’s going back to Cali, by way of Lithuania in 2023!
