Published: November 05, 2009 01:19 am      

Brooks brings different philosophy to Berea College women’s basketball program

RICHMOND — The Lady Mountaineers enjoyed a tremendous amount of success during the past five seasons, relying on a unique style implement by coach Bunky Harkleroad.

Berea College won three-straight Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference titles, broke a long list of school and national records and made a trio of appearances in the NAIA Division II National Tournament.

However, when Harkleroad left this summer to take over the women’s program at Glenville State, it seemed highly unlikely that the school’s next coach would have the same unorthodox style.

And that certainly turned out to be the case.

Terence Brooks, the former head coach at Paris High School, was named the program’s 14th head coach in early August and immediately started putting in place a much, much different system.

“Coach Harkleroad brought an exciting style of women’s basketball to Berea College and having an opportunity to add my own style is exciting,” Brooks said. “Also, I’m excited to coach at a college that cares so much about the academic success of all students.”

Brooks had a great deal of success at Paris with a system that focused heavily on defense — which of course is in stark contrast to the high-scoring, run-and-gun system used by Harkleroad.

The Ladyhounds posted a 105-71 record in Brooks’ six seasons at the school and he guided the school to six 10th Region All “A” Classic titles.

Brooks played at Murray State and also served as an assistant coach at the school for a year. This is his first head coaching job at the college level.

“It’s really exciting,” Brooks said. “It’s totally different from high school. (In high school) you have two maybe three kids who really love the game of basketball and you try to make everyone else love it to benefit those kids who do love it. On the college level, you have all the kids committed (to basketball).”

The Lady Mountaineers return six players — including two seniors — from a team that went 16-13 last season and lost in the semifinals of the KIAC Tournament.

Berea’s roster also features nine freshman, but, with a new coach and a new system, it feels like an almost entirely new team to a certain degree.

“It’s almost like inheriting a team with 16 freshmen,” Brooks said.

The dramatic shift in style has, of course, been a challenge for the student-athletes who played under Harkleroad.

However, Brooks says that despite some growing pains, he is pleased with the progress the players have shown in a very short period o f time.

“I think one of the biggest transitions is trying to get the kids who played under Bunky to break some of the habits they (developed) and to put our system in place,” Brooks said. “And just trying to get them to believe in what we are trying to do.”

Senior Annbruce Madden was the Lady Mountaineers’ second-leading scorer last season (13.76 points a game) and will once again run the offense as the starting point guard.

But, she will be asked to play a slightly different role this year.

“We are asking her to be more patient offensively and help get us in our offense,” Brooks said. “Then, when the ball comes back to her, we want her to be aggressive and penetrate and get everyone else involved.”

Heather Hutchins, a senior from Lebanon, will start the season as Berea’s starting shooting guard. She averaged 7.24 points per game last season, fourth-best on the team.

Meagan Downs, a sophomore from Frankfort, averaged 4.52 points a game last season and will begin this year as a starter at guard/forward.

A pair of freshman should make a big impact for the Lady Mountaineers.

Ashley Fowler (5-foot-7) was a standout at Southwestern High School in Pulaski County and is expected to jump right into the starting lineup at Berea.

“We are asking her to play (power forward), where she was used to playing the (guard) or (small forward) in high school,” Brooks said. “That’s putting her in a position where she’s going to be guarding bigger kids.”

Raven Hunt (5-foot-8) scored more than 3,000 points at her high school in Chattanooga, Tenn., and should give the Lady Mountaineers a solid interior scoring threat.

“She’s an undersized post player, but she know what to do with the ball,” Brooks said of Hunt. “You don’t score that many points in high school and not know what to do with the ball.”

Freshmen Tiffany Yates and Kayla McFarland could contribute right away, but like the rest of the team’s first-year players, they won’t be counted on to make a big impact early in the season.

“The other freshman are all pretty green right now,” Brooks said. “We do have some kids who come from some pretty successful high school programs, but right now they are still trying to get used to the college game.”

Among the incoming freshman also include Jor’duan Brooks (Terance’s daughter) and Emily Hinkson, who played for Brooks at Paris High School.

With a coaching change and roster full of new players, it came as no real surprise that Berea was picked to finish fourth in the KIAC preseason poll.

“They could have picked us last,” Brooks said. “I like flying under the radar.”

Berea opened the season with a 78-73 loss at Milligan College on Tuesday. The Lady Mountaineers are set to return to action this weekend at the Asbury College Invitational.