Charlie Obaugh RV & Outdoor Center Student Athlete of the Week: Braylee Corbin

PETERSBURG, Wv. (WHSV) - Braylee Corbin is an all-state basketball player and a softball star with stellar grades at Petersburg High School in West Virginia.

“It means a lot that I get to represent myself, my family, my school, my coaches, and my friends. Just to represent a community as a whole and show other people what this community and this town is really like, it means a lot to me,” said Corbin, a senior at Petersburg High School.

Corbin has been a standout athlete in multiple sports. In basketball she was named second-team all-state as a junior and led her team in scoring with 17 points per game as a senior, she’s also made back-to-back all-state tournament teams.

“She was a really special player to watch just because of how hard she played all the time. If there was a loose ball you knew she was going to come up with it, if there was a big rebound that we needed she was going to find a way to get it even though she wasn’t the tallest, she was just going to find a way to help us win,” said Petersburg Girls Basketball Head Coach Jon Webster.

Corbin has been a key piece for the Petersburg Girls Basketball program and helped lead the Vikings to three straight state semi-finals appearances.

“Some of the biggest compliments we got from people was to say how much they enjoyed watching us play together as a team knowing that we liked each other and just seeing that comradery on the floor. Braylee as a senior was by far the big instrumental piece in putting that together,” said Webster.

Corbin is a star softball player at Petersburg and plays catcher and shortstop, she’s committed to play at Potomac State University next year.

“The biggest key to my success I’d say is to always work hard with it, it’s a lot of repetition and learning the small things. The small things in softball have been the biggest help with me and just taking criticism has always pushed me, criticism from coaches, criticism has always helped me to critique my game and better myself as a player and a person,” she said.

Corbin also played soccer at Petersburg, and although she said she originally started playing to stay in shape between Basketball and Softball seasons, she and her team made big improvements.

“In soccer, we used to not win very much but this year was the first time we won a few games and just to slowly see everything coming together and slowly building up to getting a few wins my senior year of soccer. I think that was really fun for me to finally get to witness the improvement of all four years of soccer,” she said.

In all her sports Corbin is described as a key leader on and off the court or field.

“She just keeps battling, keeps fighting the whole time and that’s something her teammates really look to her for. She also does a great job of staying kind of emotionally just even, she doesn’t get too worked up when things don’t go her way,” said Webster.

Webster said that Corbin’s growth as a leader was instrumental in the team’s success this past season.

“She definitely had to step up that leadership role this year. At the end of the season, she was the only senior we had on the squad so she was the one with the most experience, she was the one the girls looked to if they weren’t exactly sure what was going on. Just to see her grow from a leadership standpoint from her freshman year to her senior year was very special,” he said.

Corbin said that she tries to lead by being supportive of her teammates and keeping a level head.

“If you need anything look for me, just to know that I can be somebody they can talk to, or if we’re in a crunch situation in a game or something I try to be the person that can calm everybody down,” she said.

In school Corbin is just as successful, she takes multiple college-level courses and has a 4.5 GPA.

“She’s a really strong student obviously taking as many college classes and dual enrollment courses as she has, with the high GPA that she has. She’s really strong with her time management skills, she’s a really bright individual and she pushes herself just as hard academically as she does athletically,” said Webster, who also taught Corbin in College Algebra and College Statistics.

Corbin plans to study criminal justice at Potomac State and said that taking college courses this year has been a big help to her.

“That’s been a little bit more difficult to balance between sports and stuff but I enjoy the challenge and college English is my favorite subject. I think it benefits me a little bit to see how college classes clash with my sports because I will be a college athlete,” she said.

Just like on the court, Webster said that Corbin is a great teammate in the classroom.

“She’s going to work with kids whether it’s the highest level student in the class or the lowest level student in the class, she’s going to work with everybody. She does a great job being part of a group in a classroom setting,” he said.

As she prepares to graduate in the spring Corbin hopes that she has left an impact on her teammates.

“I want them to remember me for the type of player I am and just to respect each other the way I respected them. Respect the game and put everything that you have, all your energy into being successful in the sport,” she said.

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