By Rubin E. Grant
Mira McCool was always the tallest person in her class when she was in elementary school and even when she reached middle school.
She and her younger sister, Ellis, played basketball with their dad, Dr. Brian McCool, as their coach, but Mira McCool wasn’t all that interested in volleyball.
She had friends on the team at Homewood Middle School, so she decided to attend tryouts. In the process, McCool discovered she had a talent for volleyball.
“I realized I had some potential and I needed to play,” she said.
When she reached her freshman year at Homewood High School, McCool also started playing for Alabama Performance Volleyball Club.
Now a 6-foot-3 senior, McCool is one of the top volleyball players in the state.
“Mira is a very special volleyball player,” Homewood coach Andie Freedman said. “Obviously, her height stands out, but she’s got a lot of natural athletic ability, a great work ethic and a wealth of volleyball knowledge. And she’s a leader.
“I’m excited to see what she does her senior year.”
As a junior in 2022, McCool recorded 382 kills, 128 digs, 35 blocks, 24 aces and six assists, earning All-OTM and Alabama High School Volleyball Coaches Association Class 6A All-State honors.
She is hoping her senior year will be even better, but she has mixed feelings about her high school career nearing an end.
“It’s super exciting to be a senior, but it’s kind of sad, too,” McCool said. “I don’t feel like it should be my senior year.”
McCool continues to play basketball and has a close bond with fellow seniors Kayla Warren and Susie Whitsett on the Patriots’ girls basketball team, as well as her sister Ellis.
But McCool’s athletic future is in volleyball. See didn’t play AAU basketball during the spring and summer so she could focus on volleyball.
McCool is a gifted student with a 4.3 grade-point average who scored 34 on the ACT. She plans to play volleyball in college. Among the schools she’s presently considering are Georgia Tech, North Carolina State and Northeastern University in Boston.
She’s thinking about studying biomedical engineering, so that will play a factor in her college decision. Her dad and her mom, Dr. Tarika Bhuta, are both ear, nose and throat specialists and run McCool & Bhuta Hearing Aid Clinic.
“All three schools are great options,” Mira McCool said. “I’ll try to decide in the next month so I can focus on our season and the club season.”
Hopes for the Year
McCool is one of three seniors on Homewood’s volleyball team, joining Carson Jarmon and Liz Cleland, both outside hitters/defensive specialists.
“We’ve got a good group of seniors,” Freedman said. “They have a good friendship and they’re good leaders.”
The Patriots have seven juniors on the team: middle hitter-opposite Ella Serotsky, outside hitter Abby Przybysz, defensive specialist Emerson Buck, libero Mariyah Ahmed, setter Katherine Fitts, setter Izzy Knudsen and middle hitter Alora Austin.
Ellis McCool, a 6-1 middle hitter, is one of two sophomores on the team. Right side Mae Noerager is the other.
“Ellis is a special player, too,” Freedman said. “She started last year as a freshman. I think it’s cool to have both of them on the team. I have two sisters and we never played together.”
Mira McCool likes having her sister as her teammate.
‘It’s fun having my sister on the team,” she said. “It’s brought us closer.”
Rounding out Homewood’s roster are freshmen Lucy Murphree, a defensive specialist, and Kam Coleman, a setter.
Freedman is excited about what Coleman brings to the team. “Kam has so much athleticism and she has a killer work ethic,” Freedman said. “Katherine will set as well. She joined us a few times last year from the junior varsity.”
Homewood opens the season Thursday at home against John Carroll Catholic at 6:30 p.m. The Patriots will play in the Juanita Boddie tournament Friday and Saturday at Hoover.
Mira McCool believes the Patriots are capable of making a run at a berth in the state tournament.
“Overall, we have a young team,” McCool said. “We have several players who are new to the varsity. But the potential is there for us to have a good team. We just have to put the pieces together.
“I think we’ll have a good season, but we’ll see.”
