When her high school basketball coach cut her from the team senior year, Baileigh Sinaman-Daniel refused to let that rejection, or the fact she was born with one arm, end her dream of playing the game that her childhood idol LeBron James made her fall in love with 15 years ago.
That determination led the 22-year-old guard at Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to become the first NCAA Division III women’s basketball player with one arm to score in a collegiate game, said her coach, Martin Rather.
“I kind of just shot the ball with the anticipation that I would have to go and get it back on a rebound,” Sinaman-Daniel said of the historic basket that she made from near the three-point line, which snapped the net without hitting the rim. “When the shot actually went in, I was more so surprised.”
Rather immediately called a timeout to mark the moment.
“My first thought was, ‘That’s history and we need to take a second to pause and celebrate it,’” Rather said. “Everybody just swarmed Baileigh, giving her high fives, celebrating her.”
The Stafford, Virginia, native’s path to history was sparked by a painful rejection at Mountain View High School.
“I had played for my high school for about three years and my senior year of high school when I tried out again, as I always did, I actually got cut and the coach basically told me that I wasn’t needed on the team,” she said.
That led to two days of misery and crying, until she made a bold decision while sitting in her car.
“I thought to myself, I could do this in college. What’s stopping me from doing this in college?” Sinaman-Daniel said. “So, I started emailing hundreds of coaches and it didn’t really matter what division it was. I was just trying to get a possible maybe or even better — a yes.”
That persistence caught Rather’s attention when Sinaman-Daniel, a 5-foot-6-inch guard, entered the transfer portal after two years at Warren Wilson College in North Carolina.
At Lesley, Sinaman-Daniel has become known for her work ethic with the Lynx.
She has completed more individual practice sessions than any other player on the team, which is having its best season in 14 years and has reached the playoffs, Rather said.
“I think any team in this country would benefit from having a player with Baileigh’s heart on their team,” Rather said.
The achievement is particularly notable given the scarcity of one-armed players in collegiate basketball who could have served as role models.
“It is not very common to see somebody with one arm playing basketball. I think there’s probably about two or three of us in the collegiate level,” Sinaman-Daniel said.
Though there are few other notable one-armed college basketball players, the most successful is likely Hansel Emmanuel at Austin Peay, whose coach describes as “the biggest inspiration in college sports.” The athletic success of the 6-foot-6 men’s Division I junior, whose arm was amputated at age 6 after an accident, has proved limitations don’t define potential.
Since Sinaman-Daniel could not always use standard balance and ball management techniques used by two-armed players, her on-court success has required unique training methods allowing her to develop fundamental skills.
“Taking passes or giving a good pass or figuring out the right shooting form — I’ve had to tweak and adjust,” she said.
Sinaman-Daniel scored her second basket on her birthday, some seven weeks after her initial score, adding another layer of satisfaction to her breakthrough season.
The junior guard who was born with a tiny right arm that she is unable to use is studying psychology at the university just outside Boston and hopes her achievement will inspire others facing similar challenges.
“When people look at me, I just hope they see me as Baileigh. I hope they see me as a basketball player and also see me as somebody who’s willing and able to do everything that everybody else is doing,” she said.
Rather sees her impact extending beyond the court.
“We’re showing that we can both win and have really high quality players that might not look like everybody else on our team,” he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.