Change of plans for Bruins’ Scott

The campus felt so much like home that Briana Scott wanted to move right in. As she walked along the red brick walkways at Elon University on Wednesday afternoon, past the Fonville Foun-tain and the spacious Young Commons in the heart of campus, the rising Forest Park senior imag-ined a day when she might be headed to her dorm room rather than taking a tour.

“I had no idea what I was going to see or what was going to happen but my first impression was, ‘wow.’ It was a lot better than I expected,” Scott said. “I was very impressed.”

The day trip to North Carolina wasn’t one Scott had initially planned to make. She’d already accepted a scholarship offer, but a coaching change at George Mason University altered those plans and now the 6-foot forward is headed to the Southern Conference as a member of the Elon women’s basketball team.

“It was really tough at first because I’d made a verbal commitment to Mason but when every-thing happened it was an opportunity for me to look elsewhere and I’m glad I got a chance to look at other schools,” said Scott, who made the decision to switch schools after new Patriots coach Jeri Porter recently acknowledged that she is still looking for potential players from the Class of 2009.

Scott’s scholarship offer came when Debbie Taneyhill was running the Patriots program, but she resigned in March and the new staff wanted to see more of Scott this summer before confirming an offer. Forest Park teammates Deidre Richardson and Amber Epps have already signed letters of intent with George Mason and former Bruin Ashleigh Braxton has officially transferred there from Pitt. But, because she cannot officially sign until November, Scott’s place on the team was no longer guaranteed and she sought other options.

“Once we knew that Mason was going to open up recruiting, we contacted colleges that were in-terested in Briana before and Elon was on the top of the list,” Forest Park coach Rebecca Tillett said.

Scott, who helped the Bruins win 25 games, a Northwest Region championship and reach the Group AAA state finals last winter, met with Elon’s first-year coach Karen Barefoot on Wednesday and returned home with a Division I scholarship to play for the Phoenix.

“I went down with an open mind and I didn’t really think I’d make a commitment so soon, but I met the coaching staff and it was a beautiful campus. I thought it would be perfect,” Scott said. “I didn’t really think she was going to offer me so soon but she did and I felt it was the right place for me so I accepted.”

Barefoot, who took over at Elon on April 7, starred at Christopher Newport, where she became the only player in NCAA history — male or female — to score 2,000 points and have 1,000 assists in an All-American career.

She is best known throughout the coaching community, however, for her ability to develop post players. That was one of her main responsibilities as an assistant at Old Dominion and it’s another reason that Scott can’t wait to get there.

“I’m just hoping I can come in and make an impact,” Scott said. “It’s a great opportunity.”