Someone to look up to

As a child, Coretta Brown grew up as a Michael Jordan fan, so it's no surprise she chose to play at North Carolina. Later, she became a Cynthia Cooper fan, so it's no surprise she chose to wear No. 14.

Brown had some great role models to follow. Now, the 5'8" senior has younger players looking at her. It's a role she takes seriously.

"I try to lead by example, just encourage the younger players," said Brown. "When they're seniors, I want them to look back and say they had great leadership from Coretta Brown and they can pass it on. I just want to set good examples."

Brown said she started dribbling a ball around the age of 4. She began playing in a recreation league a few years later.

"I started playing when I was 8," she said. "My mom just surprised me. She saw I loved the game so much and she signed me up."

Brown said she watched Jordan and other college and NBA players.

"I watched it on television, watched them do moves, then go outside and practice those moves at halftime," she said.

"As I got older, I became a big Cynthia Cooper fan. We have the same number. That's by design," Brown noted. "She could penetrate. She could shoot. She was just great. I used to love watching her play."

Brown runs the team for North Carolina and leads the team with 14.4 points per game. An outstanding shooter, she hit 82-of210 from 3-point range and shot 82.4 percent from the free-throw line.

"At the beginning of the year, I was up for a lot of awards," said Brown. "About midway in the season, I put all the individual stuff to the side and focused on our team goals. In order for us to succeed, they needed a good floor game from me."

Putting her team first helped Brown lead North Carolina to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Considering who her role models were, that's no surprise.

- Tony Burns

Copyright Ashton International Media, Inc. May/Jun 2003
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