When freshman guard Brittany Shine comes off the floor during a game, she removes her mouthpiece and sticks it in her sock.
They must be Nike socks, always two pairs, and the “swooshes” have to line up.
Shine has reason for the peculiar placement of her protection device — that is, other than shielding her recent dental work.
She wants to communicate.
As soon as the buzzer sounds and the sub comes in for her, it’s not uncommon to see Shine hustle to a spot on the sideline right next to Amanda Butler and drape an arm across her coach’s shoulders.
That desire Shine carries — her pursuit of greatness — is evident to those around her.
“She just wants it,” Butler said. “She wants to be coached. ... She wants to get it right. She wants to be great.”
Part of that is getting immediate feedback from her coaches and teammates on the sideline.
Butler and Michele Massari, Shine’s coach in high school, said her craving for improvement, and her receptiveness to criticism, is unmatched by her peers and her predecessors.
“Her spirit is never diminished by how hard I challenge her — quite the opposite,” Butler said. “It almost motivates her more to get it right and come out with more passion and more energy.”
On Sunday against Vanderbilt, Shine entered the game late with the Gators trailing by seven. Less than a minute later, she drilled a three right in front of the Florida bench to pull the game within two.
A foul on the other end of the floor sent Tiffany Clarke to the free-throw line, where Shine’s normally joyful, exuberant expression turned noticeably serious. She clapped her hands and, struggling to get the words out behind her cumbersome, bright orange mouthpiece, she implored her teammates, “Let’s go.”
Shine scored seven of her team’s next nine points, accumulating 10 of her 19 during the scant three-minute span, propelling the Gators from an 11-point halftime deficit into a tie game and overtime.
“I just try to do whatever I can do to help us win,” Shine said.
But to the onlookers taking it all in, her play is something more.
“She gets that fire in her eyes,” Massari said after watching Sunday’s game on television. “She gets that look in her eye, and it’s over.”
“That look” is something basketball’s greats are known for.
A difficult shot falls or a tough foul is called — something triggers an evident glare in their eyes. A ridiculous scoring frenzy ensues. The opposition can see and feel the game slipping away.
Shine possesses the look and has shown she, too, is capable of single-handedly affecting a game’s outcome.
“I just want to win so bad, I’ll do anything it takes to not lose the game,” she said.
Massari saw it first hand while coaching Shine at Sacramento (Calif.) High.
Shine dropped 28 points in the 2010 Northern California Division III playoffs with a trip to the championship game on the line.
She had the same look in her eye then as she had Sunday against Vanderbilt, Massari said.
The seemingly simple expression that signaled the start of her run is indicative of something deeper.
By 6 a.m., even on school days, Shine was in the gym getting shots in before class — just the first of four workouts.
After school, there was practice. Then, Shine would stick around and shoot some more. She also put in time with a strength coach.
“Unless you’re in the gym working as hard as she worked, you’re not working enough,” Massari said.
It’s easy to see why her coaches say they have never encountered someone like Shine.
It’s also easy to see how she was able to stack up accolade after accolade.
The Sacramento Bee named Shine the 2010 Player of the Year, and she also snagged the 2010 Metro League Player of the Year award.
Shine was also chosen to the All-NorCal First Team and the 2010 Cal-Hi Sports All-State team for her division, and was a four-time First Team All-Metro selection.
“I know when I’m not working, somebody else is. So, when somebody else is asleep, I’ve got to be in the gym working,” Shine said. “I’m trying to reach my goals. I’ve got to make it happen. It’s not going to just happen by itself.”
Her commitment to greatness has carried over in her limited time at Florida.
She was named Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week after stepping in for injured captain Jordan Jones, lighting up the scoreboard with 47 combined points in consecutive games during the Gator Holiday Classic on Dec. 20-21.
Despite averaging just 14.4 minutes per game, Shine has eclipsed 15 points four different times this season. Only Jones, a spot-up shooter averaging a team-high 33 minutes per contest, has done so more often, with five.
The time she puts in off the court finally translated into time spent on it, and Shine racked up a team-high 12 points against the Rebels, most coming in another game-changing spurt.
While the transition from prep star to role player off the bench can be difficult, Shine doesn’t get discouraged with the lack of playing time.
“When most kids would pout, she’ll just get in the gym and shoot,” Massari said.
It’s that type of mentality that personifies Shine.
Butler said her “infectious” personality off the court is what makes her so special.
And it began with family.
Growing up, Shine was coached by her mother, Sheila, also a former selection to the Sacramento All-Metro team.
They still talk three to four times each day, and Mom has even made the cross-country trek to watch her daughter play five times.
“Not only is she my mom, but she’s my best friend,” Shine said.
Her grandparents live three miles away from her home in Sacramento. And she plays drums during service at her church — self-taught, by the way.
“In any part of Shine’s environment you go to … everybody loves her,” Butler said. “She doesn’t just turn it on when it’s time to be this or time to be that, it’s just who she is all the time.”
This past summer while playing for Just Believe Sports, a California club team stacked with talent, Shine sprained her foot and was sidelined for much of the schedule.
For JBS’s last game, every player suited up with a No. 23 scrawled on their shoulder in honor of Shine — much like she wears No. 23 to pay homage to one of the game’s best.
From her earrings to her shoes, Shine is all Jordan.
She has at least 30 pairs of Jordan shoes in Florida alone, and double that at her home in California. Shine even tried to get Butler to give up her Jumpman sweats in practice recently.
And when Shine has trouble falling asleep at night, what does she watch? Jordan highlights.
While on-court comparisons between the two are unrealistic, the game’s greatest has been a source of inspiration for Shine — and it shows. From the number on her back to the work she puts in off the court, all the way down to that infamous look.
It’s only a matter of time before Shine is able to reap the rewards of her hard work and get back to the winning ways to which she is accustomed.
And it won’t be a surprise to those who know her when it happens.
“Just tell Michael Jordan, I want to be the first college basketball girl on Team Jordan,” Shine said. “Tell him put me on. Tell Michael Jordan that.”
