Lady Flames basketball star reflects on her path to greatness

From the Windy City to Central Virginia, Liberty women’s basketball player Dee Brown’s path to D1 basketball has been anything but effortless. As she glances back at it now, however, she can’t help but see the beauty in the journey filled with doubt and fear. 

For Brown, this journey in the game of basketball did not originate at an early age as it did for most. 

Typical D1 basketball players get their start around first grade. In Brown’s case, however, it took a little bit longer for that love of the game to grow. 

In fact, it took some time for her to stop hating basketball. 

When she thinks of her earliest basketball memories, Brown thinks of the bullies that made life miserable. She first started playing basketball in a park league in fifth grade. As a 10-year-old new to the game, Brown didn’t know much when she first stepped onto the court. She would constantly foul other girls by mistake, unsure of how to play the right way. The girls she played with teased her relentlessly for it. 

“Every single day, my mom was like, ‘Please let her quit, please,’” Brown said. “My dad would say, ‘No, she’s not quitting.’ I would cry and cry every single day.”

What was her father’s reasoning? He caught sight of the potential in his daughter from day one. Letting her walk away from basketball due to the disrespect of others simply wasn’t an option. 

“He just had a non-quitter’s mentality,” Brown said. “You’re gonna see it through until you can’t do it anymore. And to this day, I thank him with all my heart for doing that … he saw something that I didn’t.”

This greatness he saw would soon become visible to her own eyes. Brown’s father moved her to a different team, pairing her with trainers and shooting coaches who helped bring her to the next level. By the time she returned to her old park league, her bullies couldn’t utter a word.   

“Being 23 years old, looking back and seeing where (my bullies) are and I am, it’s like, wow, your bullies really do help you succeed,” Brown said. 

Having to build an authentic love for the game, however, was something that didn’t come naturally to Brown. While she admired basketball stars such as Derrick Rose and Candace Parker, those icons were not what connected her to the sport. Rather, it was the desire she had to make something of herself. 

“(My love for basketball) was self-made,” Brown said. “I wanted to prove people wrong. I think growing up, I’ve always had a chip on my shoulder.”

The improvement made over time was apparent. When it came to the end of her high school years, however, colleges weren’t persuaded that the guard was ready for D1 hoops. 

“I had colleges turn me down because they were like, ‘Oh, you’re too heavy. You can’t play a guard position. You’re strong, but you’re too short.’ I’ve always heard ‘cannot, cannot, cannot,’” Brown said. 

The doubt soon began to engulf her. The senior in high school who was prepared to take the next steps suddenly had no blueprint. She heard crickets from college programs, letting the thought creep in that all her work could have been done in vain. 

“The doubt did catch up to me,” Brown said. “I lost touch with Christ, and I didn’t know how to find him at a certain point … I was very lost. I had my dad pushing me and everyone pushing, but I was like, ‘We’re not getting any answers.’ And then at that point, my whole spiritual being just started deflating.”

But when everyone said “cannot,” there was one woman who said Brown could. 

“This wonderful, wonderful woman from junior college, Coach Susan Summons, hit me up one day, and she told me, ‘You’re coming to Miami-Dade,’” Brown said.  

Brown immediately pushed back. 

“I told her ‘Absolutely not.’ My dream from when I was in sixth grade was to go D1 out of high school,” Brown said. “I’m not going to junior college, especially in Miami. Like, are you crazy?” 

Summons persisted, continuously telling Brown that Miami-Dade was where she needed to be. Over and over Summons would call, saying that God had put her on her heart. While the senior was hesitant, she eventually gave in, joining Summons in the Sunshine State. 

Despite receiving the opportunity to play basketball at the next level, Brown still felt uneasy, perceiving herself as a disappointment. After working her whole life to go D1, junior college was not the anticipated destination. But amid her doubt, Summons worked to give Brown clarity in a restored relationship with Christ. 

Week after week, the coach would continuously invite Brown to church, assuring her that she could simply come as she was. 

“We get in the car, and it’s my first time in church in like three years, and I just break down,” Brown said. “Something just hit where I started getting back to my spiritual well-being … the dark hole I was in was due to a lot of stuff, and God solved all of that.”

The spiritual transformation Brown experienced was visible to not only herself but to the people around her. Among those taking note of this shift were the most influential women in Brown’s life — her grandmothers. Growing up, Brown was surrounded by many generations of mentors above her, being raised with her great-great-grandmother, great-grandmother and grandmother all by her side. 

“Every single grandmother has taught me the importance of something great,” Brown said. “Those are my women, the reason I keep going to this day. My grandmother told me, ‘Daliyah, I see God in you.’ I think my grandmothers, all of them, saw that change in me and were so proud to see that … And after that, I became the best player I had ever seen myself be.”

The dominance Brown displayed on the court in that time was extraordinary, averaging 26 points per game and ranking No. 2 in the NJCAA for total assists (232). The numbers the Chicago native was putting up jumped out to many programs, one of which was Liberty University. 

Her first impression on the Flames coaches, however, is one she will never forget. 

On the day that Liberty Associate Head Coach Alexis Sherard came to Palm Beach to see Brown play in person, she was feeling all but her best. The guard had come down with the flu on gameday, with the ability to hardly get out of bed.  

While Summons urged her to tough it out and play anyways, Brown made the decision to watch from the sidelines. That is until she got to the court. 

“I was like, ‘You know what, forget it. Let me just suit up,’” Brown said. “Coach Sherard came …  I’ll never forget him walking in, I know exactly what he was wearing. Red sweats, navy blue hoodie, and he had a red backpack on.”

Brown then proceeded to have a “Flu Game” of her own, one that would change her life forever. 

“I did not expect to even play as well as I did,” Brown said. “Like a 41-point, triple-double. I played the best game I’ve ever had in my life. And then right after that game, I passed out and went to the hospital.”

While in the hospital, Sherard called Brown to offer her a scholarship to play D1 basketball. It was then that the blueprint began to make sense, and the beauty of the path God had put her on beamed. 

“God makes no mistakes,” Brown said. “I was supposed to play that game and connect with Coach Sherard the way I did.”

When Brown made her first official trip to the Hill City, she knew it was meant to be. The way every coach went about the visit made it evident that they cared beyond simply her growth on the court. While the future Lady Flame was feeling convinced, Brown’s mother was having a hard time keeping her emotions bottled up. 

“We’re having a close-out meeting with all the coaches, and my mom just starts bawling in front of everybody. She’s looking at me saying, ‘Daliyah, I really want you to go here.’ So then, the coaches start tearing up and I’m like, ‘If you will let me finish, I was going to tell everyone I’m committing.’ Just waterfalls. She was breaking down every single day we were here.”

The sentimental response from her mother was simply a foreshadowing of what was to come for Brown in Lynchburg. In her three seasons spent on the Mountain, she has transformed into not only a commanding presence on the court but a voice of guidance for the Lady Flames. 

Now, as the senior prepares to lead the group on an ASUN playoff run, the same woman who doubted God’s plans for her life just years ago can’t help but relish in his goodness. 

“I look back on my life, and I could have never imagined being at Liberty,” Brown said. “I think God has shown me to be more relational in life and just to express his love in all types of facets. My journey here is far from over. I hope to keep influencing others and mentoring others while being here … it’s all for the good. I’m beyond blessed.”

Cory is the sports editor for the Liberty Champion. Follow him on Twitter