Getting back on the wagon after blowing budget
December 22, 2015
Local basketball talent ridiculously good for 2015-16 season
December 23, 2015
Houma native Randi Brown was a force in her freshman season for the University of New Orleans in 2014-15 – one of the best perimeter players in the entire Southland Conference.
With an offseason to polish her game and focus on improvement, Brown said she wants to be even better as a sophomore.
If early stats are any indication, she may have accomplished her goal.
Brown has picked up where she left off last season, pouring in points for a UNO team that is hopeful of making a push in the Southland.
After winning the conference’s Freshman of the Year award last season, Brown is on a torrid pace again this go-round, averaging 16.8 points per game for the Lady Privateers, despite starting in just two games and playing only 25 minutes per game.
Brown said the offense and success is a blessing. She said she’s hopeful to continue to build on everything she’s earned throughout the rest of her career.
“Everything is going pretty good for the most part so far this season,” Brown said. “There’s still some things I need to get better at and work on, but as I continue to work hard, I’m sure those things will happen and I’ll get better at those things.”
Hard work, diligence and a God-given gift to put the ball in the bucket are what have gotten Brown where she is at this point in her career.
Since her early days in the prep game, Brown has been a natural-born scorer – a player capable of scoring both from the outside but also off the dribble and in the paint.
As a combination guard at Central Catholic High School in Morgan City, Brown was ridiculously good, winning First-Team All-District three-straight seasons and First-Team All-State in her junior and senior seasons.
The icing on the cake for Brown at the prep level came in 2014 when she and teammate Meo Knight led the Lady Eagles to the Class 1A State Championship – a game in which Brown was named MVP.
After high school, the Houma native signed with UNO, and actually had to deal with adversity for the first time in her career. Brown struggled in the first three months of her freshman season and scored double figures in just three of the Lady Privateers’ first 18 games.
After some soul searching in the gym, Brown ended with a bang and averaged 23 points per game in the final month – helping UNO finish on a winning streak.
“I was nervous about playing and playing with new people, and I also knew that playing time wasn’t guaranteed, so the way I played at the beginning of the (freshman) season was a little more rushed than in high school,” Brown said. “I because a little discouraged when I wasn’t playing well and when I got less playing time.
“So I prayed about it and got in the gym and my season turned around instantly.”
It’s a turnaround that has bled into the offseason and also the 2015-16 year.
Brown said she worked hard in the offseason with her coaches to stay sharp, utilizing several drills to better her skills.
The standout said that after finishing 2014-15 with a bang, she knew she’d be asked to carry a heavy load as a sophomore.
Through five games, Brown is second in minutes for UNO – a team which plays 11 players.
“My coaches just work a lot on my game over the summer as far as hoe people were going to guard me this season,” Brown said. “In practices and workouts leading up to the season, we really worked hard on me handling a box and 1 situation or a double team situation.”
That willingness to work hard to perfect her craft has certainly caught the attention of UNO coach Keeshawn Davenport, who said Brown is a leader – even just as a sophomore.
“Her commitment to her game and our program is noticeable,” Davenport said over the summer. “She definitely works hard and does everything asked of her, and I think the results on the floor show how naturally gifted she is at the game.”
Now, it’s time to win some ballgames.
When Brown signed with UNO, the Lady Privateers were a program in transition.
In 2012-13, UNO won just 3 games in 26 tries. In 2013-14, the Privateers were 0-29.
But last season, the Lady Privateers picked up steam and were 8-19, including a 6-12 mark in the Southland, which included wins over Northwestern State, Southeastern Louisiana and Nicholls.
So far this go-round, UNO is 3-3, despite a tough non-conference schedule.
Brown said the individual successes are nice, but both she and her teammates’ No. 1 focus is on winning games in a big way this spring.
That, Brown said, is what will make this new season a success.
“We definitely want to make it to the conference tournament and win it all,” Brown said. “But we just work hard at practice and do the little things right so that when the game comes, we just take it one possession at a time.”
