Part of that commitment usually includes having a strong dislike for IU and anything associated with it.
Considering this, it might be hard to believe a player such as IU guard Larryn Brooks would ever make the move to Bloomington after growing up in Richmond, Ky., which is a little more than 27 miles away from the Kentucky campus in ?Lexington, Ky.
Last year’s second team All-Big Ten and all-freshman guard, who shattered nearly every program single-season scoring freshman record imaginable after averaging 16.3 points per game, not only flew under the radar throughout the nation, but her state’s flagship school didn’t even show her interest during her recruitment.
“Miami (Oh.), Xavier, Bowling Green and IU were the main schools looking at me,” Brooks said. “The UK rivalry didn’t factor in to me because I didn’t have an offer from them. I wanted to prove the people from the University of Kentucky wrong. I can do that here.”
The sophomore guard fared well playing with a chip on her shoulder.
As a freshman, she scored 554 points, which is the seventh most scored by an IU player in a single season, and she also helped lead the team to the women’s NIT quarterfinals, which gave IU its best season in five years.
Brooks was introduced to the game the same way most children in a multiple-child household begin playing basketball — playing against her siblings.
She recalled playing most of her life, but she felt her passion for basketball developing from an early age as she was taking on her younger brother.
Although she wouldn’t call her showdowns with her younger sibling, who is a basketball player at Division II Kentucky Wesleyan, a rivalry, she does like to think she was the better of the two.
“I wouldn’t say we had much of a rivalry,” she said. “We each say we were better, but that’s how it always is.”
Brooks received her start in organized basketball as a fifth grader, playing with a middle school team.
As her career continued into high school, Brooks led Madison Central to an overall record of 112-22 in four years, which included leading the team to a district and regional title as a senior.
After averaging 20 points, four assists, four rebounds and four steals during her senior campaign, Brooks received a scholarship offer from former IU coach Curt Miller, and she accepted nearly immediately.
“As soon as I received the offer from Indiana, I was there,” Brooks said. “I knew that this was definitely the place for me.”
As Brooks goes into her second season with the program, she has naturally become a leader on a team that includes just two seniors and three ?juniors.
Her transition into a new system with a new coach didn’t come easy.
She spent her offseason working on her defensive game, which is something she didn’t do before the arrival of IU Coach Teri Moren.
“I honestly didn’t play much defense last year,” she said. “It was the aspect of my game that I had to focus and work hardest on for this year.”
On a defense-first team that has an abundance of scorers throughout the roster, Brooks wants the 2014-15 season to be her best as an overall player while helping the team take the next step.
“My goal this year is finding my balance with my scoring, kicking out to my teammates and playing defense,” Brooks said. “As a team, we want to buckle down on defense and have good communication on the floor. If we do those things, it will help us win games.”
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