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 Posted: 11/30/06 11:47 am ::: Newspaper piece on BC's Ayla Brown |
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From today's Boston Herald.....
(with apologies for my lack of ability to simply cite the link)
Ayla Brown is not afraid to get dirty. In basketball-speak, that means diving for loose balls and fighting for rebounds. When you’re a forward playing in the low post, it means muscling opposing players, gaining leverage, boxing out, doing whatever it takes to get the ball.
Eagle Idol
Making music the NCAA way
Watching Brown play for Boston College is like watching a human torpedo. It’s like she’s been shot out of a submarine launcher. With her long brown ponytail flying behind her, she whips around the court at warp speed, and anyone in her path is in danger of being blown away.
For lack of a better description, she is so un-“American Idol”-like on the court. Even the most dedicated viewers of the show, who came to know her during the last “Idol” go-round, would have a tough time picking her out of the Eagles lineup at first glance.
The most telling clue that Brown once rubbed shoulders with Ryan Seacrest?
She’s the only player in maroon and gold quietly singing “Go Boston” as she delivers lay-ups during warm-ups, while the band plays the Eagles’ theme song from the sidelines.
A star at Noble & Greenhough High School, and the sixth-leading scorer in Massachusetts prep history with 2,358 career points, Brown committed early to BC. And yet, after all the “American Idol” hoopla, after she finished 13th, impressing judges Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul with her voice and work ethic, people on the outside wondered where hoop would fit in her life.
They also wondered if the 18-year-old Wrentham native could cut it on the Division 1 level, particularly after she had a taste of Hollywood, and recorded her first CD.
Brown has provided a very good answer. While it’s still early in the season, it’s pretty obvious she belongs. Seven games in, there’s no need to poll the audience: The “Idol” can play ball.
‘Freshman 15,’ please
At the moment, she comes off the bench for BC coach Cathy Inglese and gives the Eagles an instant jolt of energy. She’s constantly in motion, moving around the offensive zone, providing for her team what former Celtic John Havilcek used to do for his. While she was recruited to play as a guard or small forward, she’s been forced to play power forward, thanks to injuries to the team. But she’s responded. In her second game, she scored 17 points against Delaware. In all, she’s averaging 8.9 points per game, and 6.3 rebounds.
“My biggest thing always in recruiting kids is their attitude. And she has a great attitude,” Inglese said. “She is someone who I think is very committed. I think she loves basketball. I think she’s someone who is goal-oriented and wants to be very, very successful, and I think she works for that.
“She had a lot of things going on in the summer, but at the same time, she came back in shape, ready to go. I know she has high goals and high expectations for herself. She’s someone who puts the effort in. She doesn’t just talk about it.”
Brown is not someone to be told she can’t, because she will. After all, her parents named her after the lead character in the novel “Clan of the Cave Bear.”
“It’s about a woman who lived in a man’s world back in the cave man days,” Ayla said of the book. “She basically saved her tribe, and gains the respect of all the men.”
Think this version of Ayla won’t want to add weight to her willowly, model-like frame? Bulk up to take on the taller, bruising forwards she’s going to face down the road in Atlantic Coast Conference games?
Think again.
She’s already added six pounds to her “Idol” frame, and hopes to stack on a few more before the year’s out.
“I know it needs to be done. I’m trying so hard,” Brown said. “I take weight-gain shakes. I gained about six pounds since the summer, which is pretty good. My goal was 15. It’ll happen eventually. I’m trying to gain muscle.”
Adjusting to new Heights
Brown admits the transition was tough at first. She had trouble juggling the demands of her five classes with the demands of college hoop. Initially, she didn’t know when to fit lunch into the workload.
But now she’s settled in. She’s adjusted to the lifestyle. As for her teammates, they’ve accepted her. They don’t see her as some up-and-coming songstress or starlet who’s along for the ride.
“She’s really humble and mature,” said BC captain Sarah Marshall. “She knows how to handle the success, and the press that comes with it. She likes to deflect all of it. She wants more emphasis on the team than herself.”
According to Inglese, Brown did have something to prove initially. She had to remind everyone about her dedication to basketball, even though many of the players had known Ayla from playing pick-up games, and from seeing her at home games in previous years.
“Our players have known her. But I think with the ‘Idol’ stuff, and how busy she was, I think they wondered, ‘OK, is this going to change with Ayla?’ Is the singing going to become more important?’ ” Inglese said. “I think it ran by the kids’ heads for a while, but they knew her before her ‘Idol’ exposure. They knew what she was about, and I think that helped.”
Brown says she really doesn’t talk about her fame with her teammates. Beyond trying to include the players in meeting many of the young groupies who now attend Eagles games, armed with posters and other goodies to have autographed, it’s pretty much basketball talk, 24-7, with the girls. Brown also said the attention she receives hasn’t made her feel awkward, or triggered any issues of jealousy. After all, Brown is getting more ink these days than the team as a whole.
“When I’m here at Boston College, I’m strictly a basketball player and a student athlete. That’s the extent of what I am here,” Brown said. “I don’t sing really anymore, because I’m in season. I made a promise to myself, to my coaches, my teammates, that I would be there for them regardless of what I was doing outside of school. They realize that, and they’ve been so supportive. They acknowledge the fact I’m here for the basketball, and to help them win.”
As Inglese pointed out, Brown was an athlete first. In fact, Ayla, not-so-long ago, played Pop Warner football in Wrentham from 7th-9th grade.
“It was a good experience for her,” said Ayla’s father, state Senator Scott Brown, of the football. “It enabled her to play (basketball) like she plays. With toughness, I mean. She plays like a guy.”
During Tuesday’s 64-58 win over Fairfield, Brown, who scored 8 points with 10 rebounds in 33 minutes, needed to be patched up after diving for a few loose balls.
“It’s very funny to think that I lived that (“American Idol”) life for a while. Because I was always a basketball player and one of those muscle-type girls before “American Idol” even started,” Ayla said. “So when that started, I pretty much had to transform myself into the glamour role. So it was pretty funny.”
Best of both worlds
State Senator Brown has been moonlighting as his daughter’s manager, trying to keep her affairs in order. He’s been working hand-in-hand with Inglese and BC’s compliance office to make sure Ayla doesn’t break any rules and jeopardize her eligibility.
“She’s still getting offers to sing and perform, which she can do,” Brown said. “We just need to get permission from the coach, and she’s been wonderful, and clearance from the compliance office, and they’ve been great. We’ve been following the guidelines.”
Ayla sang the national anthem at the Celtics home opener last month. She needed to get documentation and permission before setting foot in the TD Banknorth Garden.
“Right now, I have a request that I just faxed over to compliance,” Brown said. “People want Ayla to donate t-shirts and CDs and stuff like that for their charity group. . . . As long as we document it, and let them know what it’s for, where the proceeds are going, and how the proceeds are being used, they’re very understanding. It’s been pretty wonderful, I have to admit.”
Brown had to miss one game last week, a double-overtime loss to Ohio State, because of an injury. She turned an ankle in practice, and was on crutches for three days, but returned to action Friday against Central Connecticut. She hasn’t been quite the human torpedo, losing a bit of her foot speed since her return while wearing an ankle brace, but she is still effective defending under the basket.
“I love both things with all my heart. As long as I’m able to do them. And it’s made me who I am,” Brown said. “It makes me complete when I can faithfully say I’m a singer and a basketball player at the same time. It’s not one overshadowing the other, because I’ve loved both since I was a baby.”
Her teammates do enjoy the occasional unscripted moment, when Ayla will exercise those golden pipes.
“One time I walked in the locker room, and the shower was on. I heard Ayla belting it out like she was at home in her bathroom,” Marshall said with a laugh. “She’s an awesome singer. I love hearing her sing.”
Where will Brown be 10 years from now? What will she be doing after college?
Her dad sees her playing in the WNBA.
Ayla?
“I want to do a lot of things. I’m majoring in communications. I’d like to be a sports broadcaster or in entertainment at some point in my life,” she said. Her mother Gail Huff is a Channel 5 news reporter. “But I’d really like to continue singing and see where I can get with that. I know that won’t last my whole life, but I guess I’ll take it one year at a time.”
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