Brown inks with UNO

Central Catholic girls basketball standout Randi Brown wanted to stay near home to play college basketball and the University of New Orleans offered her that opportunity to do so.
Now, one of the key pieces of the Lady Eagles’ Class 1A title run in 2014 will head to New Orleans and the Southland Conference to continue her playing career as a member of the Privateers’ basketball team.
Brown held a signing ceremony at Central Catholic Thursday to commemorate the occasion.
While Brown had another offer from Arkansas-Little Rock and additional interest early from Ole Miss, she said UNO came into the picture about a month ago.
“They had been talking to me, and I really wanted to stay close,” Brown said. “People from school (can) still come see me play, and I think I made a good choice both athletically and academically.”
She will be joining a UNO team that struggled mightily during the 2013-14 season, finishing with a 0-29 mark.
Brown said she expects to play possibly point guard and shooting guard in college.
“They said I’ll be playing pretty quickly, but it all (is determined) on how hard I work, and I plan on working pretty hard so I can play a lot,” she said.
Central Catholic girls’ basketball coach Jamarr Garrett said UNO will be getting a hard worker in Brown.
“She’s in here a lot,” Garrett said of the Central Catholic gym. “The seniors, they usually get out of school at about 12:30, and before practice, she was in here from 12:30 until we started practice just shooting … doing whatever she can to get better.”
Brown is the second of two Central Catholic girls’ basketball players to sign to play Division 1 basketball as guard Meo Knight signed with Alabama in November.
Both Knight and Brown teamed to lead the Lady Eagles to a state championship this spring with a 67-64 win against North Central in the Class 1A state championship game in early March. The squad finished its season with a 29-4 mark.
“It means a lot for the school,” Garrett said of the two signees. “Hopefully it’s ground breaking for getting more athletes over here. I want to say this is the icing on the cake overall, but they won’t be excited until May 14 when they finally get their (state title) rings.”
Brown was named District 7-1A MVP this year and was a first-team All-State Class 1A selection this season. She finished the season with per-game averages of 24.7 points, 7.8 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 4.1 steals.
She participated in the Louisiana Coaches Association All-Star game as a member of the West squad and led the team with 17 points, while also recording six rebounds.
She earned All-State honors as a sophomore and junior as well.
Brown, who has played at Central Catholic since her sophomore season, also was part of a quarterfinal team her sophomore season and a semifinal squad as a junior.