Basketball Preview
Freshman and transfers add depth to women’s team
By Caroline Morris, staff writer
Posted on November 16, 2006

The JMU women’s basketball team returns all five of its starters from last year, but there will still be plenty of new faces on the court. The addition of two transfers and three freshmen give the Dukes the depth they lacked last year.

“Obviously their presence will add some depth,” coach Kenny Brooks said. “How much they’ll be able to contribute remains to be seen, because we’re so young in the season and we have a lot of returning players who will be playing a lot of minutes.” 

Forward Jennifer Brown is a redshirt junior transfer from the University of Pittsburgh. The Brooklyn, N.Y., native was the second-leading rebounder and third-leading scorer for the Panthers in 2004-’05. She played significant time coming off the bench last Sunday against East Carolina University, scoring 12 points and grabbing nine rebounds in the Dukes’ 82-66 victory.

“Jen Brown actually visited James Madison out of high school,” Brooks said. “So she was very familiar with our staff and our players. When she decided she wanted to leave Pittsburgh, she came for a second visit here and decided this is where she wanted to play her basketball.”

Redshirt junior guard Jennifer Harris joins the Dukes from Penn State University. Harris was also third in scoring there, averaging 10.4 points a game off the bench in 2004-’05. Harris is currently nursing an ankle injury and is unsure when she will be able to return.

Redshirt freshman Nana Fobi joined Harris and Brown in watching the Dukes from the sidelines last year as she was forced to sit out the season due to a stress fracture in her shin. Fobi was ranked the 22nd-best center in the country in 2005 by the All Star Girls Report. She was voted All-Patriot District two years in a row (2004 and 2005) and was a McDonald’s All-America nominee.

“She’s getting better,” Brooks said of Fobi. “She will play at some point but we aren’t going to rush her back, especially when we have Meredith playing a lot of minutes in the center.”

MaLisa Bumpus is a freshman guard from Virginia Beach, who was voted All-State first team last year while playing at Norfolk Collegiate High School. She is the school’s all-time leading scorer with 2,084 points.

“My first game as a Duke was indescribable,” Bumpus said of the home exhibition game against Eastern Mennonite University. “Running down the tunnel, hearing the crowd cheer and the announcer call my name…I remember going into the locker room and smiling hard because I saw my name on the back of my James Madison jersey.”

Bumpus had seven points in the EMU game.

Freshman forward Brentney Moore had a similar experience in her first game as a Duke. Moore, a recruited walk-on, is a McDonald’s All-America nominee and holds the record for most points (1,598) and rebounds (945) at Orange County High School.

“Brentney had some offers from other schools, but she came to us and told us she was coming to James Madison anyway,” Brooks said. “Her size gives you an added player in practice and it’s not every day that you get a 6-foot player on campus that wants to play basketball.”

Moore contributed seven points and six rebounds in seven minutes during the exhibition game last week.