Big Sky Feature: Montana State’s Blaire Braxton
FARMINGTON, Utah (June 10, 2020) – When you speak to any student-athlete, they always talk about the influence that their coaches had in their life, and that sentiment is no different for Montana State’s Blaire Braxton. Braxton finished an outstanding career for the Bobcats and was named their new assistant coach less than a month ago.
When Braxton was given the opportunity to join the Bobcats staff, she knew that this was her path. A regular 9-5 job was never in the cards for her as someone who fell in love with the game of basketball at a young age.
“I love basketball,” says Braxton, “and I think I knew that I wanted to be in athletics after school, but I didn't know what that would look like. “I looked at how different coaches
impacted my life, and I noticed that that was something that I wanted to do. I have just fallen in love with different aspects of the game.”
Her love for the game began at a rather young age as it does for most of us, but for Braxton, it took a while. It was the friends she made on the youth teams that helped keep her attached to the sport that she would eventually come to love.
“I played a little bit of YMCA basketball when I was younger, but I didn't really like it. Then I moved back to Colorado when I was in fifth grade, and I was kind of just looking for something to do,” says Braxton. “I fell in love with the team, and they kept wanting to play and those are the friends that I built just when I got back to Colorado. I kept playing just because I loved being around them and then I started falling in love with basketball.”
Eventually, she committed to Seattle out of high school, but after a coaching change, she decided to open her recruitment once more. That’s when she decided that Bozeman would be her new home, a place that she absolutely fell in love with.
While playing for the Bobcats, Braxton appeared in a school-record 125 games, which included 56 starts. Throughout her career with the Bobcats, she finished fourth all-time in blocks and tenth in rebounds, was an All-Big Sky academic selection twice, and helped Montana State to the 2017 Big Sky title and their first NCAA appearance in 24 years.
Despite being a standout athlete and excelling at the game she loves, Braxton also believes that basketball is more than a game because of the lessons that it can teach you along the way.
“You obviously go in, and you want to win, and your goal is to get those championships,” recalls Braxton, “but I think once I graduated and finished my last year of playing, I realized how many more things I gained just from being a part of a team. Leadership, building friendships and trust, teamwork and followership, and all that kind of stuff that you learn but you don't realize you're learning along the way.“
It is these lessons that she learned throughout her playing career that she wants to instill in her players as she works to develop not only great athletes on the court but great individuals off the court.
I definitely want to become a developmental style of coach. I want to be able to take the things that I learned and explain them to others and help them grow in different areas,” says Braxton.
When it comes to the on-court aspects of her job, she will be able to make an impact right away. Braxton is tasked with assisting in the recruiting process and developing post players as the assistant defensive coordinator.
Braxton believes that her experience in that position as a player will pay dividends while trying to teach her players how to play that position.
“Being so familiar with the way that the big guy plays right now and just different styles and being able to play and coach against girls that I've actually played against is going to be helpful,” says Braxton. “Having that experience and being able to tell the girls, ‘Oh, this is what's probably gonna happen on this play,’ and then tell them what I did against it. I think that's going to be beneficial and then getting everybody to buy into that blue and gold state of mind. We're a hard-working team, and it's all about effort and defense for us first because that's kind of what I preached my whole career.”
With all the excitement that surrounds Braxton and her new role with the Bobcats, the thing that excites her the most is the opportunity to continue learning from head coach Tricia Binford, who is currently the second-winningest coach in the Big Sky among current active coaches.
“There is a lot of knowledge around the program,” says Braxton. “There have been so many great people and coaches and players that have been through Montana State since Coach Binford has been here and they’ve experienced just about everything. I think it's going to be great just to be able to pick her brain from a different perspective and keep her legacy going as long as it can.“