Jada Williams is a 13-year-old basketball superstar whose talent and determination have catapulted her toward achieving her dreams.

Jada Williams is a person to watch on the court. She’s a point guard with amazing talent who plays in the Nike Girls Elite Youth Basketball League in Kansas City, where she travels around the country. She most recently added to her pile of college scholarship offers with a full ride from the University of Missouri, along with Syracuse and Illinois. The most impressive detail about Jada is not just her basketball skills, it’s that Jada Williams is only 13 years old.

Most proud of Jada is clearly her family and mother Jill McIntyre, a 1994 Rock Port graduate, who says that Jada eats, sleeps and dreams basketball. Her grandparents, Rock Port residents Rick and Patti Meyerkorth, enjoy watching Jada achieve her dreams. Her uncles, Ryan and Jared Meyerkorth and their families (also Rock Port residents) are also cheering for her along the way.

Jada, who will attend Brittany Hill Middle School in Blue Springs as an eighth grader this fall, is not only an accomplished basketball player, she also maintains a 4.0 grade point average. She’s been playing organized basketball since first grade, but, McIntyre says, has “pretty much carried a ball since she was a toddler.”

Currently, Jada plays for Missouri Phenom, an Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) organization out of Kansas City. This summer, her team will travel to Chicago, New Orleans and Dallas, among many other cities across the United States.

Her dedication to basketball is inspiring. When she is not on the court playing games, she’s practicing with her trainer, Marcus Walker, a native Kansas City coach who played professional basketball overseas. They practice every morning and most evenings.

“Basketball is my passion, I can’t get enough. Every single day I try to be better than I was the day before,” Jada says.

She has received many awards and recognition over the years, but the most recent is being selected for Elite Girls Basketball’s All-American games at the Women’s Final Four. She was also selected to represent team USA in Canada for the Border Wars and named in the BlueStar 30 for the Top 30 middle school players in the country. Jada was also selected for Future Stars, an event ran by ESPN Hoopgurlz owner, Dan Olson. All of these events are ran by the most comprehensive scouting services in the nation for girls’ basketball.

So what does Jada have to say about her multiple college offers and success? They are all a part of her long term dreams:

“My dream is to play ball at a D-1 college and eventually play professionally,” Williams said. “My offers were definitely exciting and help me know I’m on the right track; that my training is paying off. I’m laser focused, though, I know I have a long ways to go and I’m just excited for the process.”

Along with her big basketball skills, Jada also has a big heart. She volunteers for the Heart of the City Foundation in Kansas City, an organization started by her trainer. They also volunteer at Hydrate the Homeless. She intends to join the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) in high school and continually uses her strong faith to inspire herself and others. She wears Deuteronomy 31:6 on her as she plays, which her Uncle Jared gave to her to recite in grade school. It is clear that her determination and faith will take her far.