This is the first in a series of profiles about the signees of the men's and women's basketball teams. The men's team has signed Chris Carrawell and Michael Chappell, while the women's team inked four recruits, Lauren Rice, Peppi Browne, Jennifer Forte and Missy West. The other recruits will be featured in issues of The Chronicle published after Thanksgiving break.
Today: Peppi Browne and Jennifer Forte.
Years ago, Peppi Browne and Jennifer Forte were grade school friends in Raleigh, until Browne's family moved to Maryland when the youngsters were in fourth grade.
Over time, the two lost track of each other. Until last year, that is, when their parents spotted each other at the Olympic Festival trials. Now the pair will be teammates on the women's basketball team. Browne and Forte are two of the Blue Devils' four recently-signed recruits who will compose the Class of 2000.
"I had no idea she had started playing basketball," Forte said of Browne. "I didn't remember her, but I remember things we did."
Browne's reaction was similar to Forte's upon spotting her old elementary friend at the trials in Virginia. Then the two were together at the official visits to Wake Forest and Duke.
Both players consider North Carolina home. To Forte, it literally is home, as the 6-foot-3 post player still lives in Raleigh, attending Millbrook High School. For Browne, who still has relatives near Raleigh, the state is a second home, a familiar place to return.
"I pretty much know what North Carolina is like," Browne said. "I won't have to orient myself in a new place. It's a home away from home."
Browne, a 5-foot-11 swing player out of Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Springs, Md., was hailed by Duke head coach Gail Goestenkors as "the most athletic women's basketball player we've ever had at Duke." Her decision about attending colleges came down to Georgetown, Virginia and Duke. She crossed UVa off the list, claiming it wasn't the home away from home she was looking for. She mentally had decided on Duke, but had to visit the team first to measure its chemistry. That visit clinched her decision.
"I was looking to see if I could get along with everyone," Browne said. "The official visit proved that. I think their style is compatible to mine."
That style is comprised of aggressive play and intense competition. Goestenkors called her a slasher who has a very quick first step to the basket. She also praised Browne's intensity.
"She's a tenacious player, especially on defense and on the boards," Goestenkors said. "She will raise the level of play in games and also in practice. She's one of those players you enjoy watching because of her effort level and her athleticism."
Browne first heard from Goestenkors in ninth grade, when the Duke head coach was an assistant coach at Purdue. When Goestenkors moved to Duke, she kept Browne in mind, and sent her another letter--this time on Duke stationary. Two years later, the head coach had her player.
Like many of this year's freshmen and the three other recruits, Browne wanted to come to a program that was up-and-coming. She said she wanted to play as much as possible, but she didn't want to enter a program and be forced to live up to someone else's legacy.
"I wanted to come in and make my own history," Browne said. "That's more exciting."
Her stats of 14 points and nine rebounds per game seem low for the player who is ranked the ninth-best swing player by Blue Star Report, a national recruiting magazine. But Browne said she doesn't worry as much about her own points.
"My main concern is to do the best that I can," she said. "[After a game], I don't check how much I scored. I'll remember one blocked shot or one play that made the crowd roar. People remember that more than how many points you score."
Like her former elementary school friend, Forte wanted to stay close to home. Before she could officially receive phone calls from recruiters, she narrowed her choices to N.C. State, Wake Forest and Duke. Competing recruiters rarely got past the "Have you thought about where you want to go?" question on the phone. In the end, Duke's academic reputation was the deciding factor that will bring her to Durham.
The Blue Devils have been in contact with Forte since 10th grade. And she returned the interest by attending games in Cameron and talking with Goestenkors and other coaches. Last summer, she would sometimes join the team in pick-up games. When she made her official visit, she said she already felt a part of the team. So there won't be many surprises for Forte when she begins school next fall.
"I'm just excited about playing with them and wearing a Duke jersey," she said. "I'm glad the whole process is over so I can concentrate on my high school season."
While Forte won't receive many surprises, she's hoping to surprise the Duke coaching staff with an improved outside shot. Millbrook head coach Carlton Carter expects Forte to succeed in college basketball.
"I think Duke will get more than they bargained for," Carter said. "They were looking for a very strong post player, and she's definitely that. But she's worked on--and getting good at--perimeter shooting."
Goestenkors said Forte is loaded with potential and will fill a big need on the Blue Devils' roster as an inside player who enjoys banging in the middle.
Carter remembers the first time he knew Forte would be a star player was the first time he saw her touch a basketball. When Forte was in ninth grade, Carter was the junior varsity coach, and he and the head coach watched as players strolled into the gym for the first day of tryouts. Both men spotted the 6-foot freshman, and immediately began arguing who would claim her. They decided on watching how she shot.
"She picked up the basketball deep in the corner," Carter recalled. "She dribbles hard to the basket, goes underneath and does a reverse, left-handed lay-up. It's from there we knew things would happen."
Now, both Browne and Forte hope to make things happen in Cameron Indoor Stadium. If their high school careers are any indication of how they will play in college, Duke has added two players who will make a difference right away and who will help establish the Blue Devils as a perennially strong program.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.