Southside basketball senior tries her hand at point guard
by February 1, 2025 5:53 pm 89 views

Liddie Ann Adams (photo courtesy of Aubrey French)
Normally a post player, Liddie Ann Adams received an unusual request from her coach in the offseason. The Southside senior was asked if she can play point guard. But there wasn’t any hesitation from Adams.
Of course.
“I like it; I like the change,” she said.
“I think I maybe did it in seventh grade when I first started, but I’ve never really done it. … I like it, it’s fun. It’s very different. I think I could do it, but it’s nice to know that I could at least do it to an extent. … It’s nice to know that I could broaden my horizons.”
Southside coach Robert Brunk offered another reason for deciding to insert Adams at point guard.
“Liddie Ann has always been a post player, and then in the fall, we talked a little bit about her being a point guard for us some,” Brunk said. “Since we had some injuries, Liddie Ann has been playing point guard and did a really good job filling in that role for us.”
For her part, Adams expressed a sense of accomplishment at trying her hand at a new role and succeeding.
“When he told me to try (point guard), I was like, this was going to be my first and only time ever doing it,” she said. “It’s nice to know I’m doing a good enough job to at least continue doing it for sure.”
Adams spent her freshman and sophomore years at Greenwood before transferring to Southside prior to her junior season. There was someone else who was thrilled Adams went to Southside – her father, Stewart Adams, who coaches the Maverick boys basketball team. Stewart and his wife have three daughters, and Liddle Ann is the middle daughter.
“He never really got to come to my games (while at Greenwood) because they were playing on the same nights,” Liddie Ann said. “So it’s fun now; I get to go to all of his games and he gets to see all of mine. … It’s always nice to see him in the stands.
“The other day, he was sitting at courtside and he was helping me out from the side. I could hear him right there in my ear, so that was nice.”
Of course, being a coach’s kid, she was drawn to basketball at an early age.
“When he would have open gyms or something, I would go with him and then sometimes I would go to school with him, and he would always show me little things,” Liddie Ann said. “He’s definitely taught me everything I know, so all the fundamentals, my dad has taught me.
Liddie Ann is equally making a name for herself in the Lady Maverick program.
“She does a lot of stuff that you don’t always see; like when you go back and watch film and watch what we’re doing on defense, she can make a lot of things work defensively,” Brunk said. “And then we’ve asked her to do a role on offense that like she said she never thought she could do, and she’s handled it really well and made us better by doing that.
“Just the last three or four weeks, everything about this young lady has just improved. She handles herself so well on the basketball court, she pushes herself hard and you see her teammates following her. That’s a great thing to see.”
Adams plans to attend the University of Arkansas and study nursing, but won’t rule out the possibility of following in her father’s footsteps and being a coach herself. Her basketball career will likely end in a few weeks, and Adams isn’t ready to let it go.
“Yeah, it makes me sad,” she said. “I also like the physical activity that I get; I don’t know if I’ll be doing that a lot without basketball, it keeps me in shape for sure.
“But it’s sad, and more than even playing basketball, having a team to be a part of and people that you’re always close with and kind of know will always be there, and then going to games and stuff, it’s always fun. You make so many memories with your basketball team, so I’ll miss that for sure.”