Life is full of changes. No change in a young adult’s life may be more important as when he or she leaves for freshman year of college. Whether a student is traveling 3,000 miles across the country or just one town over, the experience is the same. For Penn’s women’s basketball’s Class of 2008, that change was accompanied by the additional pressure of being a student-atlete.
Kimberly Franklin, Brilynne Parrish and Andrea Wright all hail from the same D.C.-Va. region with Franklin calling Reston, Va. home, while Parrish is a Germantown, Md. native and Wright is from Bowie, Md. The three have come into the University of Pennsylvania together and in some ways will always be linked to each other, a bond that began to strengthen from the start.
“I think our class was close from the beginning since our recruitment and in this way we are continuing the tradition of having close ties between graduation classes,” Franklin commented. “I am able to learn something new from my teammates on and off the court. I share various ideas not only with members of my class, but with
members of the upper classes as well, which is a unique and rewarding experience for a freshman.”
The change for a student-athlete not only appears with the new demand to manage their time correctly and to learn to work with people that prior to September were not a part of their lives, but also on the court as well.
In high school, all three of these newcomers were stars on their team and now they each must look at playing different roles in order to help the team succeed. Franklin had been a starter at South Lakes her entire scholastic career. Parrish was a two-time team MVP for Seneca Valley and Wright started 62-consecutive games at Eleanor Roosevelt. That has changed but the change of roles has not filled these student-athletes with doubt, but rather excitement.
“I was excited to make that collegiate debut in The Palestra, especially with my family at the game. Really, I'm just happy my family was able to see me play, and there is no better place to start any collegiate career other than home court,” Wright explained.
“As I was making my collegiate debut on the court I was feeling excited and a little nervous, but I felt ready to come in and just play hard and give it my all like I always do. I was feeling proud to be a part of Penn Basketball,” Franklin added.
All three rookies have made their collegiate debut. Franklin recorded her first minutes in a Penn uniform against Colorado on Nov. 26. So far she has appeared in four games, scoring a career-high three points against then-No. 22 Maryland (Nov. 27). Wright and Parrish each made their debuts in The Palestra against Villanova. Wright logged 10 minutes on the floor, scoring five points, while Parrish played three minutes and registered one offensive rebound for the Red and Blue.
Now that each newcomer has been baptized into collegiate basketball, the real work begins. The freshmen are entering their second semester and the bulk of the basketball season. Classes resume on Jan. 10 but hoops resume on Jan. 3 at Rider. It is the beginning of a 42-day road trip for the Quakers that ends with a road trip to Yale and Brown for the team’s first chance at defending its Ivy League title.
All are ready for the challenge, even the freshmen. The reason is the upperclassmen. They have all been there. They know what it takes to be prepared for the grueling schedule. That knowledge and experience was passed down to them from previous classes and they now pass it along to the Class of 2008.
“The upperclassmen have played a huge part in in helping the three of us transition from high school to college,” Parrish said. “They have been there for us when we have questions and are all great examples of what teammates should be.”
“Being apart of a team that is so close has helped my transition considerably,” Franklin added. “Even though our teammates come from various parts of the country it's interesting that we can come together and focus on the same mission, which is to obtain athletic and academic success.”
All three freshmen have and will continue to experience change throughout their collegiate careers. With the help of their teammates and coaches, these changes will begin to accumulate and will one day add up to equal the best four years of their lives ? and they will have shared them together.
Written by Mat Kanan, associate director of athletic communications
