Meet Future D1 Basketball Player Bella Samz

Bella Samz is a 17-year-old senior at Arrowhead High School preparing to take on her D1 college career for girls’ basketball. 

Samz has been playing basketball since she was four years old. She says she has always had a passion for the game and is thrilled to be continuing her athletic and academic careers at Youngstown State University in Youngstown, Ohio. 

“I’m really excited for the challenge with the new competition and work ethic that is needed at the collegiate level, but I am also a bit nervous about meeting teammates and school,” says Samz. 

The YSU girls basketball team, coached by John Barnes, competes in the Horizon League and their current season record is 19-10. Their top starters are Lilly Ritz, Megan Callahan, Paige Shy, Malia Magestro, Dena Jarrells, and Mady Aulbach. Currently, Callahan has the most minutes played and their top point scorer is Ritz. 

She is planning to major in Biology on a Pre-Dental track and after college, she’s hoping to become a dentist or orthodontist. 

Samz says she’s interested in science and “dentistry seems like the perfect mix of helping people, diagnosing things, and more.”

Currently, Samz is playing for Arrowhead’s Girls’ basketball team as one of two seniors (her best friend Hannah Krogwold being the other one). As of February 28, 2023, the team has 22 wins and 4 losses, with an 85% win rate. 

On the AHS girls’ leaderboard, Samz is leading in rebounds per game and is second in the categories of points and assists per game along with being third in blocks per game.

Coming up, the girls will be competing in the 2023 WIAA State Girls Basketball State Championship Playoff game on Thursday, March 2nd. This game will be Arrowhead (22-4) against Verona (19-2). 

Samz also plans to participate in the 2023 Track and Field season at Arrowhead starting on March 6th. 

She has been running track since her sophomore year. She runs in the 100, 200, and 400M dashes along with the 4×100, 4×200, and 4x400M relays. While she does enjoy it, she says basketball takes the win when it comes to furthering her athletic career. 

Chris Herriot, a social studies teacher and coach (track and football) at Arrowhead says, “The number one thing that I think of when I think about Bella is her extremely hard work ethic. She’s tough as nails. She will go up against people that are faster and stronger than her and beat them because of her effort and how well she deals with pain and I love that.”

Samz got the opportunity to run at the Track and Field State Championships at the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse for the past two years. Coaches agree she is a stable pillar on the track team and always gives her best effort. This season, she’s hoping to make it to state again to finish off her senior year. 

Samz is thrilled about the future and specifically this summer, which she says she can’t wait for to come around. After graduation, it’s on to the next adventure.