City of Basketball Love

By Dan Arkans (@danarkans)
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(Ed. Note: This article is part of our 2023-24 season coverage, which will run for the six weeks preceding the first official games of the year on Nov. 6. To access all of our high school and college preview content for this season click here.)

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Kassondra Brown was a dominant force for Abington High School from 2017-2019, making first team all-league three times while leading the Ghosts to 92 wins and a District 1 Class 6A title in her sophomore season.

Five years later Brown is still at it. Despite being underrated once again, this is her time to lead Rutgers back to prominence.

“Our first game is going to show what we came to do,” Brown said before the start of the season, which began with a 56-51 Rutgers win on Monday night. “It starts against Monmouth. I am not looking at anything else.” 

Brown did not expect to be here. She was thriving at Saint Peter’s University in her junior season, averaging 14.9 points and 10.1 rebounds per game. She ranked 33rd in the nation with 13 double-doubles and 35th in rebounds per game with 10.1.

However, her coach then left the program and Brown, who had played her first two collegiate seasons at Rhode Island, transferred to Rutgers. She played in all 31 games last season, making 26 starts. And she did the dirty work, averaging 8.1 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. 

“The biggest thing here is it’s not just about basketball,” Brown said. “They care about us as human beings. You cannot say that everywhere. That is the biggest thing.”

Brown has never lacked confidence or skill. That all goes back to her freshman year at Abington when she came off the bench.

“She was probably talented enough to be a starter,” said current Abington boys basketball coach Dan Marsh, who coached her all four years. “She came back sophomore year in shape ready to go and said, ‘Never again.’ She dominated from there on out. That was the coin flip for her. That’s when she became so great. We never won another district title, but we were close.”

The hard work never stopped for Brown, either. Despite battling in the paint at only 6-foot-2 against the beasts of the Big Ten, she is not one to back down.

“I am undersized at the collegiate level,” Brown said. “I am able to handle my own. I can go in the paint, but I can take it outside. I am special and unique.”

“I thought she was under-recruited,” Marsh said. “I talked to coaches and said, ‘I don’t understand why she isn’t being recruited.’ First two schools, coaches left, and she ended up at Rutgers. I was still getting calls. Whoever gets her was going to get a heck of a player. I always expected her to be a dominant force.”

In her first 10 games last year, Brown averaged 9.7 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. She reached double figures six times during that span, including 15 points in 32 minutes against rival Ohio State. She also scored a season-high 18 points in just 22 minutes against NJIT.

This year’s Rutgers team returns two seniors and two graduate students, including Brown. Joining her as a leader is fellow grad student Awa Sidibe and seniors Erica Lafayette and Chyna Cornwell. All four were starters for last year’s team which went 12-20. Brown, for one, is not ready to accept another losing season.

“I am a leader,” Brown said. “I am going to work hard, push everyone else. I am just a team player. I am encouraging others to give it all they have got.”

Brown is part of the Gifted Education program at Rutgers and wants to teach and work with children in the future. She hasn’t ruled out coaching, either. Still, there are other dreams.

“If I have an opportunity to play in the WNBA, that would be great,” Brown said. “If I can play overseas, that would be great, too.”

“I coached a lot of really good high school players,” Marsh said. “She was probably the most dominant. In states, Cumberland Valley had five kids on her. We hit some shots and opened it up, but she was facing double- and triple-teams every night. I would not put anything past her.”

Marsh might not recognize the player Brown has become. Her hard work has taken her game to new heights.

“I am getting into the best shape of my life,” Brown said, “I have worked on a lot of things, period. I am the best player I have ever been.”