BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- On Samford's campus, Brittany Stevens is best known as the 5-3 senior who is in her fourth season as the team's starting point guard. However, Stevens is much more than just a basketball player.
              
Stevens, who is majoring in English with a minor in religion, has been heavily involved in several aspects of campus life during her time at Samford.
              
"I am pretty involved in extracurricular activities that go on in our major, whether it's poetry readings or meeting poets that come and visit Samford and going to dinner with them," Stevens said. "I served as a connections leader this fall, and I've met a lot of new people through that. I am also on SAAC (Student-Athlete Advisory Council) and the Athletic Director's Council. I am also part of the religion department's National Honor Society. Through my major and my minor I've been able to reach out to different parts of campus that athletics doesn't really allow me to."
              
Stevens said being involved in so many activities outside of basketball has made her experience at Samford that much better
              
"My junior and senior years I've been able to branch out intentionally and try and join different groups around campus, whether it's worship groups or academic groups," Stevens said. "I have been very fortunate and very glad that I did intentionally do that because I've met so many new people and learned so many new things."
              
Being heavily involved in several aspects of campus is nothing new to Stevens. In high school, she had a wide range of activities at the Wesleyan School, a small Christian school in Norcross, Georgia in the Atlanta area.
              
"I was very involved in high school, musically and athletically," Stevens said. "I was in chapel band, we had a worship service every Friday that the students led. I would play guitar, play piano and sing at the beginning. I was also involved in the symphonic band, I played the flute for seven years from sixth grade to my senior year in high school and I loved it so much. And then I was also the high school mascot."
              
When Stevens first started playing basketball at the age of eight, no one would have guessed she would wind up playing college basketball.
              
"I did my first season of basketball in the third grade and I was the only player on the team who didn't score a point," Stevens said. "It was super embarrassing, and I remember the coach made me run a lap at the end of the season. I wanted to play the next year and I was like, 'I'm going to be better.' I worked really hard over the summer and the next year I ended up making the All-Star team and falling in love with it."
              
In high school, Stevens helped lead her Wesleyan School team to four-straight state titles. She was named All-Region as both a junior and senior. She was also named All-County and second team All-State as a senior.
              
Stevens came to Samford in the fall of 2013 and immediately stepped in as the team's starting point guard. That season, she led the team with 52 assists. Stevens said it was difficult to start at point guard as a true freshman.
              
"Freshman year was a difficult transition," Stevens said. "I did feel quite a bit of pressure, but I also had a lot of leadership ahead of me that was giving me advice. I feel like as a freshman it's hard to get people to look up to you as a point guard, so that was a weird dynamic."
              
As a sophomore in 2014-15, Stevens played in 22 games, missing eight games due to injury. Despite missing several games, she still led the team in assists with 76.
              
During her junior season in 2015-16, Stevens again led the team in assists with 79. She also averaged a career-high 6.5 points per game.
              
As a point guard, Stevens is relied on more for distributing the ball instead of scoring. She says, as a senior, she would like to add the element of being more of an offensive threat to her game.
              
"I want to be more confident offensively and be more offensive-minded," Stevens said. "I want to make people have to guard me, whether that's shooting a three and opening up the drive or vice versa. Also, I want to get everybody on the team on the same page with our offense since we do have so many new players."
              
This season's team features five new freshmen, but also a group of experienced seniors in Stevens, Ellen Riggins and Lydia McGee. Stevens says she is excited about the upcoming season.
              
"Off the court we get along great," Stevens said. "We have such a fun group of girls and that always translates on the court. We're super competitive in practice, but we're also super encouraging. We have a great dynamic I think coming into practice and into competitive games. Everyone's a hard worker, so it's been fun to see."