Meet The Bee’s Girls Basketball Player of the Year, Jzaniya Harriel, and All-Metro teams

Sacramento Bee 2018-19 Girls Basketball Player of the Year

Jzaniya Harriel, Antelope High School

For all of the remarkable numbers Jzaniya Harriel puts up in basketball, it’s what she does when her body is idle and mind is in action that especially wows those who know her.

The Antelope High School sophomore guard and The Bee’s Player of the Year is a 4.7 student, including honors courses in human geography, calculus and physics.

It’s enough to warrant a lot of high fives from students, faculty and administrators when she treks across campus.

Harriel aspires to be the valedictorian for her graduating class in two years, and she wants to someday become a judge.

“I just love to learn, and I never want to stop,” Harriel said. “No matter what situation I am in, I want to be able to know about it. I want to improve my intelligence.

“I want to be a judge because I see a lot of stuff that goes on in the world, a lot of injustice, and it upsets me.”

This is the nice-girl Harriel speaking. She’s polite, engaging, all smiles and cheer.

The competitive Harriel is a warrior, eager to take one off the dribble, or to pull up for a jumper, or to muscle in for rebounds.

The region’s only 5-star recruit and the area’s first since Vicki Baugh of Sacramento in 2007, the 5-foot-10 Harriel averaged 23.4 points, 12.8 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 2.9 steals for a team that went 31-4. She’s on her way to becoming an all-time area great.

She’s an athletic combo guard who has garnered scores of national recruiting interest, including from Stanford.

“My parents always told me that off the court, you’re supposed to be a polite young lady,” Harriel said. “But on the court? That’s your zone, and go out there and be a dog.”

Harriel has grown up in an athletic household and had to fend for herself in pick-up games. No one cut her any slack.

Her father and older brother, both named Mister Harriel, were Bee All-Metro basketball players, her dad at Valley and brother at Antelope. Her brother was a defensive back football star at Sacramento State who hopes to land on an NFL roster this spring.

Jzaniya Harriel works with her brother and father regularly on her game and conditioning.

“I owe everything to them,” she said. “They taught me how to work, how to prepare.”

Harriel has impressed her Antelope coach with her drive to excel.

“Jzaniya is a rock star, a special kid, way ahead of the game, ahead of everyone else, and we’re just living in her world,” Antelope coach Sean Chambers said. “She’s the hardest-working kid I’ve ever seen in this area, and I’ve been coaching around here for 20 years. Her biggest skill is competitiveness, and she’s never rattled.

“And she wants to do better, to do more.”

Sacramento Bee 2018-19 Girls All-Metro Teams

This story was originally published March 27, 2019 at 5:34 PM.