VCU news

By Tom Gresham

Quanitra Hollingsworth would have been excused for not harboring grand plans for her first college basketball season. After all, the 6-foot-5 redshirt freshman turned 17 just three days before the start of the VCU women’s basketball team’s season-opening contest against Loyola, making her the youngest player in women’s college basketball.

In addition, she had been playing basketball for a mere five years. In terms of age and experience, Hollingsworth would be at a disadvantage against every opponent on the schedule.

However, Hollingsworth has little use for modest expectations. So when her rookie season turned into an emphatic statement of her talent, opening the eyes of women’s college basketball observers across the country, she remained unimpressed.

“Honestly, I set my goals a little higher than this,” Hollingsworth said. “I thought I was going to get a double-double (double-figure totals in both scoring and rebounding) every game. I thought I’d be a little more consistent. I thought my numbers would be a little better.”

Hollingsworth’s disappointment belies an impressive individual debut that has produced visions of a promising future for the Rams’ program. Hollingsworth has demonstrated the burgeoning talent and necessary determination to serve as a catalyst for the VCU women’s basketball team’s craved rise into contention in the Colonial Athletic Association over the course of the next three seasons.

Meanwhile, Hollingsworth’s academic interests, which were born long before her athletic ones, have been not been eclipsed by her sudden stardom on the court.

Hollingsworth is majoring in computer engineering with a minor in computer sciences. She is also pursuing a certificate in international studies management. Her grade-point average was a sparkling 3.8 as a freshman, and she aims to maintain those lofty standards as she continues her studies.

“That’s just how I live,” Hollingsworth said. “It’s one of the reasons they skipped me those grades. I don’t want to just work hard and finish second. I want my work to show. I definitely am driven, whether it’s academics or sports. I don’t ever think I’m going to lose.”

Entering VCU’s regular-season finale at Georgia State on March 2, Hollingsworth led the Rams in a host of statistical categories, including points per game (14.5), rebounds per game (10.9), field goal percentage (51 percent) and blocks per game (2.0). Her season has included such shows of force as a 32-point, 14-rebound effort against Georgia State, a 17-point, 11-rebound, 8-block performance against George Mason and a 24-point, 21-rebound outing against William and Mary.

VCU coach Beth Cunningham said Hollingsworth would be one of the nation’s premier prep recruits if she had stayed with her scholastic class instead of skipping the fifth and sixth grade. Instead, she gives VCU that rare impact player in the paint every coach covets.

“Even when we were recruiting Quanitra, I knew she was the type of player you could build a program around,” Cunningham said. “I knew she was someone who could be a cornerstone for our program. She’s just that kind of player.”

Hollingsworth picked up basketball as an 11-year-old high school freshman who was hoping to make friends among her much older classmates. Hollingsworth had skipped two grades because of her outstanding academic performance and was in classes with students two and three years her senior.

Two years later, Hollingsworth made the varsity team at Great Bridge High School in Chesapeake. Although she was sidelined extensively by the muscular problems and patellar tendonitis that accompanied a 5-inch growth spurt, Hollingsworth attracted the attention of recruiters from several college programs, including nearby Old Dominion University, which boasts a storied women's basketball program with 14 consecutive Colonial Athletic Association titles to its credit.

However, Hollingsworth signed with VCU based on her academic interests, her feel for the campus during a visit and her hopes of being a part of an exciting transformation.

“I didn’t want to go somewhere and just be another face in the crowd,” Hollingsworth said. “I wanted to go somewhere and be a difference-maker and help build something I was proud of.”

Cunningham elected to redshirt Hollingsworth her first year on campus, though she believed her prized recruit was the team’s best post player at age 16. The extra year benefited her youthful new charge, Cunningham believes. Hollingsworth spent the time adjusting to college life, flourishing in the classroom and polishing her admittedly raw basketball skills.

“She had a lot of God-given talent, but she couldn’t do a lot of the little things you take for granted,” Cunningham said. “She really worked hard with the coaches to develop her game. Everything she’s doing this year was built on the work she did last year.”

So far, Hollingsworth’s play has not produced the desired surge in VCU’s fortunes. The Rams opened the season with an 11-5 record, but dropped nine of their following 10 games as a plague of injuries struck the squad. A year after finishing 11-18 with a 6-12 record in the CAA, VCU is 12-14 with a 5-12 mark in the conference.

Still, the presence of Hollingsworth and other talented players, such as junior guard Michele Cosel (9.5 points per game, team-high 44 3-pointers), sophomore forward Krystal Vaughan (9.8 points per game, 5.2 rebounds per game) and sophomore guard LaKea Jones (team-high 90 assists, 42 steals), infuses the prospect of the 2006-07 season with promise.

The Rams’ roster includes no seniors, meaning each of the team’s top players should be back in uniform next winter – a year older and more seasoned.
“It’s just the beginning for Quanitra and for us,” Cunningham said.

Hollingsworth says the Rams are on the verge of something big.

“I feel like we’re putting in our dues right now,” Hollingsworth said. “We have to go through this right now in order to take the next step, so we know when we do well that it’s for a reason.”

Although the victories have been slow in coming, the media has taken immediate notice of Hollingsworth. She has been featured by a multitude of print, online and television outlets.

USA Today named her one of the nation’s impact freshmen, and Sports Illustrated included her in its venerable “Faces in the Crowd” section. Both Sports Illustrated On Campus and CSTV.com (College Sports TV) recognized Hollingsworth as a national Player of the Week this winter.

Hollingsworth said the media attention has added another challenge to her first season. “I didn’t think it would get as big as it has,” Hollingsworth said. “I just try to stay humble and focused. I can’t get caught up in it, because I’ve got to stay strong academically and I have to improve every time I step on the court. I always want to get better.”