Posted on March 15, 2006
This weekend will be homecoming for Jennifer Brown.
The 6-foot-2 forward on the JMU women’s basketball transferred from Pittsburgh last year and Sunday she gets the chance to return to Peterson Events Center, as the Dukes visit Pitt in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
“Everything I saw had us going against Ole Miss,” Brown said of the possible matchups before Selection Monday. “So when they came to us, I was really surprised. And for it to be at the Peterson Events Center is even more shocking.”
At Pitt, Brown was the team’s second-leading rebounder and third-leading scorer in 2004-05. As a Duke, Brown has averaged five points and five rebounds in 18 minutes off the bench. Although Brown claims that there is “no bad blood” between her and the program, she’s anxious to face her former teammates.
“I’ve tried my best not to make it personal, make it seem like it’s us against them,” Brown said. “But in the back of my mind it’s just like an extra incentive to go there and play extra hard and get the win. So I basically told my teammates, they’re not going to give it to us easy because I’m over here. They’re probably going to try to play hard, too. They’re going to point to me, but my teammates have my back, so I’m not worried about it at all.”
Brown was originally recruited by both JMU and Pitt, but chose Pitt because many of her friends like senior guard Lesley Dickinson, junior guard Jasmin Lawrence and sophomore forward Kisha Stokes, whom Brown played with in high school, were playing at Madison, and she didn’t want distractions. But she changed her mind and hasn’t looked back since.
Coach Kenny Brooks said he was relieved to see Brown’s excitement at facing her old team and is excited to have her to provide an insider perspective on the Panthers.
“We’ll rely on her a little bit,” Brooks said. “I can’t say we won’t, because anytime you have the inside scoop like that, you definitely want to listen. And she’s a very knowledgeable basketball player and has a high basketball IQ.”
Brown points out that since she knows the players and the coaches so well she’ll be able to give her teammates info on their tendencies. When asked about how Pitt knowing her style of play will affect her game, she laughed and brushed the idea off.
“I’m not the star here so they don’t have to worry about me,” she said. “They’ve got to worry about Meredith Alexis, Lesley Dickinson, Shirley McCall, Andrea Benvenuto and Tamera Young. I’ll just be the extra bonus. They’ve got their hands full.”
Brooks said the whole team has caught Brown’s infectious excitement.
“They all love Jen, and if she’s excited, they’re excited for her,” Brooks said. “So it’s going to be interesting, because Jen’s going to know a lot of people from both teams, including both coaching staffs. I don’t think the coaching staff has really changed much since she left. But I think she’s mature enough she can handle the situation and use everything in a positive manner.”
Brown describes this game as “the cherry on top of my soap opera.” She talked to many of her former teammates Monday night after the selection show and traded jokes with them, but is aware she traded blue and white for purple and gold.
