SAN ANTONIO — Bailey Maupin and her Gruver girls basketball team are once again the toast of the small Texas Panhandle town.
Maupin cemented her legacy with a Class 2A MVP trophy and second state title in three years in San Antonio, the same place that changed the trajectory of her basketball career.
“You can't really put it into words how amazing it feels to have the whole community back you in everything that you do," Maupin said.
Maupin grew up playing AAU basketball in the Amarillo area, about 90 minutes from Gruver. As she matured, her desire to take her game to the next level grew as well. Another team caught her eye the summer before her junior year of high school.
“I needed to be on a team with a bunch of other superstars and have to earn my spot. That really helped me grow my game and grow as a person on and off the court," Maupin said. “I wanted to play for Coach Ray.”
Coach Ray is Ray Caldwell. He runs the SA Finest AAU program in San Antonio, about nine hours fron Gruver. Bailey's parents weren't sure the family could make that commitment.
"She was his main farmhand," said Bailey's mom, Julie. "He knew he was going to lose help on the combine and during the harvest."
The Maupin's farm has been in the family for over 100 years. It's simply been the way of life for Bailey, helping her dad, Wylee, in the mornings or weekends.
“No matter what you have to do, no matter how you have to do it, you go get your job done," Wylee Maupin said.
A mentality that Bailey has taken to the court.
“It gives you a grit that I promise no one else has," Bailey Maupin said.
She officially joined SA Finest in October 2020. It was exactly the challenge she'd been looking for.
"As soon as Bailey got on the court with those girls, she came home and said, ‘Mom, this is exactly where I need to be,’" Julie Maupin said.
The weekend drives to San Antonio happened a couple times each month — spring and summer road trips that turned into quality time, especially between Bailey and her mom.
“There was nothing more exciting for me than packing up and going to watch that kid play," Julie Maupin said. "To have the one-on-one time with Bailey, sometimes that's where we had most of our connections.”
“Just the conversations I was able to have with my parents, those are memories that I'll have for a lifetime," Bailey Maupin said. "I'm extremely thankful for everything they've done for me.”
Sacrifices from San Antonio to the Texas Panhandle and back again with a state title reward ends this chapter of Bailey Maupin's basketball story.
“I loved coming down here. I love San Antonio. I love playing with those girls," she said. "If I could do it again, I would.”