Texas Tech University Athletics
Dallas Native Brown Ready for Collegiate Play
July 24, 2009 | Women's Basketball
July 24, 2009
By Taylor Wilson, Texas Tech Athletic Media Relations
Over the years, Lincoln High School has been recognized as one of the top producers of women's basketball talent in the nation. Former Texas Tech success story, Dominic Seals, was a product of the prestigious program and for freshman Chynna Brown, the Lincoln legacy is anticipated to carry on.
A 2009 graduate of Lincoln, Brown earned many accolades and honors under head coach Michael Ensley's guidance. During Brown's junior campaign, she was named to the all-state, all-region and All-Dallas-Fort Worth area teams. She was selected to the 12-4A All-District team and earned Defensive Player of the Year honors. Brown helped her team to the 4A state championship title over Dickinson, 50-47, and was selected to the state tournament all-tournament team.
Success is something that has come easy to Brown in her career but it is not something that she will take for granted, as she will always remember her roots and her goals.
"I never forget where I came from and where I'm trying to go," said Brown. As a senior, Brown was an all-state selection, an all-district selection and named as the team's Most Valuable Player. Brown credits much of her success and the success of the Lincoln program to coach Ensley's philosophy and direction.
"What made the Lincoln program so successful was the head coach, coach Ensley," said Brown. "If you could play defense, then you would win every game and that's what the program was mostly revolved around. We couldn't touch a ball until everybody got the defense part down. That helped out a lot."
Brown also played a significant role on her AAU team, the Dallas-Fort Worth Elite. The DFW Elite is a competitive girls basketball organization consisting of girls from the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area and other cities throughout Texas. It is the goal of the organization to strive to develop young female basketball players to their fullest potential, while teaching them to compete with courage, play fair, and to be leaders on and off the court.
The Lady Raider believes the knowledge and experience she gained from both her Lincoln and DFW Elite days will provide some insight into her toughness and determined attitude on the court.
"It was so much competition because we were playing girls from all over the country," said Brown. "To compete against different people was something to look forward to. I learned a lot from playing with them."
However, success at the high school level and AAU level is not something that is guaranteed on the collegiate level. Through the highs and lows in her life, Brown has learned many lessons that she hopes to will contribute to her transition to Tech's program. And although the collegiate stage will be a challenge for the Dallas native, it isn't something Brown is going to shy away from.
"I think it will be a challenge to me but I'm looking forward to the challenge," Brown stated. "I know I still have a lot to learn about the game and playing on the next level but if I work hard, stay in shape and keep my body right I think I'll be okay."
The attempt to transfer her success on the court may be something difficult. But as it has been the case for many of the freshman basketball players, the transition to Lubbock and the Tech program was that of an easy one. For Brown, the situation is similar.
"When I came here for a visit, everybody here was really nice and welcomed me in with open arms, it was already another home to me," said the freshman. "After that I felt like this would be the right school for me."
