By Brad Morris
SportingPumpkin.com
ASHVILLE — The relationship she built with Brenda Mock Brown and watching her turn around the East Tennessee State University women’s basketball program led Teays Valley senior Kennedy Younkin to give a verbal commitment on Thursday to play for the Buccaneers.
“I was really impressed with the coaches and players when I made my visit to East Tennessee State, along with the environment that Coach Brenda Mock Brown had built there so quickly,” Younkin said. “She is a phenomenal basketball coach who has worked at Florida and came over to East Tennessee State after being the head coach at UNC-Asheville.
“I really liked her personality, and we got along pretty well. I like the expectations that she has for the program and for me, and I’m super excited to be part of what she wants to build there.”
Younkin had 15 offers that she had narrowed down to a Final Four — Akron, Kent State, William and Mary and East Tennessee State.
Brown authored the biggest turnaround in Division I women’s basketball last season, taking a 6-22 team in 2021-22 and leading the Buccaneers to a 25-10 record in her first season as head coach that earned her Southern Conference Coach of the Year recognition.
A versatile 6-foot-2 post player who averaged a double-double of 11.1 points and 12.5 rebounds to go with 3.1 blocks last season, Younkin said the Buccaneers are expecting to use her as either a strong forward or post player on the hardwood.
“They see me as either a five or four who can get out and run the floor, play inside and out, ball screen, post up with my back to the basket and help working the ball around the court,” she said. “They also want me to be a strong defensive presence, especially grabbing rebounds.”
Younkin expects to major in civil engineering at East Tennessee State, located in Johnson City, as part of a dual program that also involves Tennessee Tech University.
A first-team Mid-State League Buckeye Division and All-Ohio honorable mention recipient last season, Younkin noted that she was excited to give a verbal commitment before her senior year starts.
She’ll play volleyball this fall in addition to basketball over the winter for the Vikings.
“I enjoyed going through the process of meeting coaches, getting to know and staying in communication with them, visiting campuses and having the coaches come watch me during my AAU season playing with Legends U, but at the same time it could get a little hectic and time consuming,” she said. “I feel like making this decision has allowed me to release from that process and focus on having the best senior year that I can.
“I want to enjoy every single minute of my senior year, focusing on my school work, volleyball this fall and then our basketball season coming up this winter.”
With everyone back from a 17-8 team last season that won the league championship and advanced to district tournament play, Younkin is super excited to build off that success and take the next step.
“Our senior class — Alyssa Horsley, Abby Tier, Gabrielle Watkins and me — have great chemistry and I am super excited that everyone is back from last year,” she said. “We are going to have a very good starting five and more depth than we did last year.
“We played against a very good schedule this summer, where we worked together to create great shots on offense and relied on each other. On defense, we did a better job of making it tougher for teams to get into their offense, disrupting passes and being more of a force. We want to win the league again this season, even though we know the league is going to be very difficult, get a higher seed than the 14th seed we did last year and hopefully go further in the tournament.”
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