Carol BrownBy Pk Bartley

This past summer, Carol Brown, a 6’1″ senior forward for theLady Cards basketball team, received her degree from the Universityof Louisville in sports administration. Earning her degree is theaccomplishment that Brown is most proud of here at U of L. Afterleaving U of L, Brown plans on putting her degree to good use.

“I want to get my masters in sports administration,” said Brown.”I want to become an athletic director. I don’t want to coach, butI want to be close to the action.”

One of the big aspects of Brown’s life is her faith in God. “Iwouldn’t be here right now if it wasn’t for God,” Brown stated. “Ibelieve everything I do is by the grace of God. Sometimes I let myattitude get away, but I know God always brings me back. I justcouldn’t do this without God. I’m here playing ball on a schoolscholarship, how many people are out there playing ball in highschool who don’t get to go anywhere after high school.”

One of the reasons Brown chose to come to U of L was because ofhow much the coaches care for their players. Out of all the schoolsthat she visited and talked with, Brown said, “U of L seemed likethey were the only school who cared about their players for afterthey graduated. If I get a C on a test, I want someone to get on meand say, ‘I think you can do better.’ I didn’t want to go to aplace where they’d say, ‘Oh, you got a C, good job, now the gamestarts at 7:00.'”

On the court, Brown feels her game has improved dramaticallysince her freshman year. “I’m more focused now on the court,” saidBrown. “My coaches told me my freshman year that I couldn’t walkand chew gum at the same time. I think I can do both now, so I’mvery happy about that.”

There are some areas where Brown believes she still needs toimprove; most important is being a leader on the floor for theteam. “I’ve been very impressed with Carol Brown since she has comeback,” says head coach Martin Clapp. “I think her scoring willimprove this year.” Clapp also feels that “she’s a role player thatif she accepts the role, can be very successful, because she’s avery good athlete, a strong rebounder, and if she doesn’t go inthinking that she has to score 15 or 20 a game, we’ll be fine.”

When it comes to playing for Clapp, Brown has enjoyed theexperience. “I think he steps up a lot for his player,” says Brown.”He tries to understand us as people off the court. I respect him alot for that. It’s not all about basketball for us; he cares aboutus off and on the court.”

Last season was a disappointing year for the Lady Cards. Theywere ranked in the top 20 in some preseason polls last year, butfailed to make the NCAA tournament. “Last year, we had all thetalent in the world,” Brown says. “I don’t think everybody knewtheir roles. This year, I think people understand their roles fromthe onset. I really want to make up for last year. We went frommaking it to the tournament the year before last, and we didn’t gothis past year. This being my last year, I don’t want it to end ona bad note. Making it back to the tournament is the ultimategoal.”

Once this season is over, Brown’s basketball career will end,and she realizes that she will never be able to get these daysback. “I will miss everybody joking around and dancing in thelocker room and just having an all out good time. I’m not going toget another opportunity like this again in my life.”