| 4/15/2002 3:00:00 PM | Email this article • Print this article |
|
| Southwestern’s Brianna Howard, suited up for Sunday’s North-South All-Star Game, will attend Purdue on an academic scholarship and play basketball for the Boilermakers. |
|
Boilermaker-Bound
Rebs Howard to play for perennial power Purdue.
By: David Campbell, Courier Staff Writer
NEW ALBANY — Brianna Howard finally put months, and even years, of speculation behind her Sunday, officially announcing her intention to attend Purdue University in the fall.
While Howard, Southwestern’s all-time leading scorer and stealer, didn’t make a press conference-type announcement, the 5-foot-8 shooting guard did make it official after Sunday’s Reebok Indiana North-South All-Star Game in New Albany.
After scoring 16 points in the South’s 86-72 loss to the North All-Stars, Howard confirmed that she will join one of the elite programs in women’s college basketball.
“It’s a pretty good school and they have an awesome program,” Howard said. “The big thing for me was that it was close to home and they have an excellent pharmacy program, which is what my major is going to be. I can’t wait to get there.”
The fact that the Lady Boilermakers are consistently a top five program in America surely didn’t hurt either.
Howard, who will play in the annual Indiana-Kentucky All-Star Series in June, is officially a member of the Purdue program, although not on an athletic scholarship.
With no scholarships left to hand out, Purdue head coach Kristy Curry was prepared to ask Howard to walk-on. But that problem was solved earlier this month when Howard was awarded the Lilly Scholarship for academics.
“When she got that, Purdue said ‘all right,’” said Howard’s high school coach Donna Cheatham. “That really solved a lot of problems. As far as they are concerned, she is not a walk-on. Walk-ons have to tryout in the fall and Brianna already has a spot on the team. They’re very excited to have her.”
Howard finished her four-year career at Southwestern in the best possible way last month, leading the Rebels to the Class 2A State Championship at Conseco Fieldhouse.
Along the way, the 5-foot-8 forward rewrote the Southwestern record book, scoring nearly 2,000 points and winning the Patricia L. Roy Mental Attitude Award at the state finals.
This summer, Howard will play as many as six all-star games with five of those contests being coached by Cheatham, the state’s winningest girls basketball coach.
Sunday was the first one and Howard shined in typical fashion. After missing her first three shots and having just four points at halftime, Howard connected on five of her next seven offerings and finished with 16 points, second in the game behind only Cathedral’s Sharika Webb, who tallied 20.
Webb, who was on the South team and has played AAU basketball with Howard, will also attend Purdue in the fall.
“I was just trying to have fun out there,” Howard. “Really, it’s such a great honor to even be selected for the team that I was just happy to be here.”
Cheatham, who has sent players to such women’s basketball powerhouses as Western Kentucky and Louisiana Tech over the years, feels her precocious forward is more than ready to play on the game’s biggest stage.
“She can play there. She is as good an athlete as I have ever coached,” Cheatham said, “and she hasn’t peaked yet as a basketball player. You can’t go to a school like Purdue if you’ve peaked in high school and Brianna still has room to grow.
“I think the important thing about Brianna is her mind. You almost don’t want the athlete as much as you want their mind,” Cheatham said. “I told her that when you go to a program like Purdue, you’re not going to play a lot those first two years. But she has the potential to be a good one for them.”
Howard and Webb are not the only Indiana All-Stars Curry has bagged for her three-time Final Four Boilers. NorthWood’s Carol Duncan, who did not play in Sunday’s game, has also committed to Purdue.
Howard and Webb, who have known each other since they were 12, should make a dangerous combo for the Boilers. The pair combined to shoot 12-for-21 with 36 points in the contest.
“I’ve played with her a lot,” said Howard. “Sharika is such an excellent player and she’s a joy to play with. The one thing about her, she’s an excellent passer. She sees the floor so well. You always have to be ready because she’ll find you. You can be standing on the other end of the floor behind eight people, and she’ll hit you.”
Purdue is truly one of the top programs in women’s college basketball. After a Final Four finish in 1994, the Boilermakers won it all in 1999, the first NCAA basketball title in the school’s history. The next year, Purdue was the NCAA runner-up to cross-state rival Notre Dame.
The three newest Purdue recruits are no slouch at winning titles in high school. Howard’s Southwestern team won the 2A title last month while Webb was on back-to-back 4A state champions in 2000-01. In 1999, Webb’s Cathedral Irish lost to Duncan’s NorthWood team in the 3A state finals.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun when we get there,” said Howard. “I can’t wait.”
|
Article Comment Form
|
