VIDEO: Kailyn Brooks Interview
ROCK HILL, S.C. – The South Atlantic Conference named its preseason all-conference teams Thursday afternoon as senior guard Kailyn Brooks was tabbed a preseason first-team All-SAC selection by the league's coaches.
"I just take this and go forward and just hope that I can carry out the honor that it is to be a first-team all-conference pick," Brooks said. "I just have to learn how to play with a new kind of pressure on my back and continue to create the shots."
Since the league began naming preseason All-SAC selections in 2006-07 the Lady Eagles have had 12 honorees including at least one in nine of the 11 seasons. On three occasions, 2008, 2010 and 2011, Carson-Newman has placed two players on a preseason team. Prior to 2015-16, three Lady Eagles were honored by the league.
"She's going to be a leader off of the floor," Carson-Newman coach Mike Mincey said. "We have a lot of great leaders in our locker room. Brooks is all in. She has just been a real positive person for our program over the last three years. She was percentage-wise the best three-pointer in our league last year. She had some really big games last year. She's just a great person and I really hope for her that she has a big year individually and for her that we have a big year as a team."
Brooks picked up a postseason honor as a junior for the first time in her career being named an honorable mention All-SAC pick. The Lafayette, Tenn. native ended the season eighth in the league with 13.8 points per game, second in the SAC with 71 made three-pointers while leading the conference with 44 percent shooting from long distance, a mark that ranked 18th nationally.
The guard notched 21 double-figure scoring nights including seven evenings with at least 20 points. Three times during the year Brooks racked up a career-high 25 points including in the final game of the season at Newberry in the SAC Women's Basketball Championships.
Averaging 3.1 assists per game, Brooks ranked ninth in the league in that category while tallying 17 nights with three or more helpers.
The junior finished the 2015-16 season with 71 converted three-pointers, one behind Ashley Tipton's single-season mark of 72 set during the 2008-09 campaign. In her career Brooks has made 123 three-pointers to rank sixth in school history on the list. She enters her senior season needing 224 points to reach the 1,000-point club and become its 18th member.
The guard will attempt to be the first player in a Carson-Newman uniform to be a postseason first-team All-SAC pick in six seasons when Zoriah Williams earned the honor.
The Lady Eagles travel to Knoxvlle Monday evening for a 7 p.m. start at the University of Tennessee. Fans can listen to that contest on the Eagle Sports Network's flagship station Mountain Country 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.
FIRST TEAM
Heather Jankowy, Anderson
Terri Rogers, Catawba
Megan Pittman, Lincoln Memorial
Meg Essex, Newberry
Kailyn Brooks, Carson-Newman
Bri Johnson, Catawba
SECOND TEAM
Alexis Dillard, Anderson
Madison Lenox, Brevard
Nicola Handreck, Newberry
Shelby Tricoli, Wingate
Paige Chavis, Mars Hill
Jasmine Franklin, Anderson
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