DRC womens BB Brittney James looking for new home

[OldTimer]

Women's basketball: New home

UNT freshman was looking for a home during second recruiting visit

11:24 PM CST on Wednesday, December 6, 2006

By Brett Vito / Staff Writer

Only a few days had passed since the end of Brittney James' recruiting visit to North Texas last year when she called head coach Tina Slinker with some unexpected news.

James was coming back to Denton a little earlier than expected to try and escape

Hurricane Rita as it churned toward her home in Orange.

The family could have gone elsewhere, but there was nowhere else James wanted to be more than Denton, where she felt comfortable with UNT's players and coaches after her recent trip.

"When we had to evacuate, I knew this area was safe," James said. "We came here so that I could let the coaches know what was going on, that I was OK and that everything would work out."

James and her family made their home in Denton for two weeks during a month-long hiatus before returning to a home that only suffered minor damage.

The extra trip helped James adapt to a new situation at UNT, one that appears as if it could pay big dividends for the Mean Green. UNT (2-4) has already seen James develop into a key contributor heading into a game at Stephen F. Austin (4-3) today when the Mean Green will count on her more than ever.

UNT's leading scorer, Sanetra Jackson, has been battling a hip flexor injury since preseason practice and sprained her ankle in a loss to UTEP on Saturday. The sophomore guard is expected to return for today's game but might not be at full strength.

Jackson's injury will give James even more opportunities to build on a solid start to her freshman season and leave behind the memories of a stressful few weeks after evacuating her family home.

Orange, a city of just under 20,000 that sits just off the Texas Gulf Coast, was hit hard by Rita, which caused $10 billion worth of damage in the U.S.

"It was scary to leave home because we didn't know how bad it would be," James said. "I didn't know if I would go home to nothing or if everything would be OK. I was having fun here, but in the back of my mind I was worried about what was going on at home."

James’ home only lost a few shingles in the storm and all the trees that fell in the area missed her house.

James’ pair of visits to Denton convinced her to pass on scholarship offers from Louisiana-Lafayette, New Mexico, SFA and McNeese State among others and play for the Mean Green.

"The coaches made me feel comfortable when I came to visit," James said. "They did more for me the second time I came and let me know that they really cared about me."

James is arguably one of the most decorated high school players UNT has signed in the last few years. She was named first-team Class 3A All-State by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches her junior and senior seasons.

James averaged 26 points and nine rebounds a game as a senior at West Orange-Stark.

At times this season, James has shown the ability to develop into a top-level scorer at the college level in an up-and-down start. She scored 15 points in just 11 minutes in a win over Loyola-Chicago and 11 in 14 minutes against Prairie View A&M.

After back-to-back solid outings, James went 0-for-5 and went scoreless in a loss to UTEP on Saturday. She ranks fourth on the team with an average of 7.0 points a game.

The up-and-down season is all part of the adjustment process for the freshman who rarely competed against top-level competition in high school.

"For any high school player, it's a big transition, but for a Class 3A player it can be overwhelming," Slinker said of moving to the college level. "Brittney was feeling pretty good about herself, scoring 30 points a game in high school. She has run into some roadblocks as far as being an elite player in college. She is a little overwhelmed right now. We don't want to push her too quickly and expect too much too fast, which we started to do."

James said part of her up-and-down season is due to seeing new defenses and the increased demands of a college schedule that is much longer than a high school season.

James’ skills and attitude in meeting those demands have made an impression on her teammates, who have given her the nickname "Too Cool" because of the poise she has shown early in her career. Slinker picked James to shoot two technical foul shots in the second half of a close game against Prairie View A&M and watched her sink both.

"Brittney doesn't play like a freshman," junior forward Erica Howard said. "There are things she still needs to work on, but the bottom line is she works hard."

Howard described James as a quiet person, one who has quickly adapted to playing on a new team in a new town that took her family in for a few weeks last year.

"Brittney thought it was a sign," Slinker said of the storm directing her back to Denton. "After her visit, she was back a week later. I told her that she was meant to be here."

BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870. His e-mail address is bvito@dentonrc.com.