Brittany Webb committed to schools in Washington, D.C., and South Carolina. She attended junior colleges in Tennessee and Florida.
All along, though, the answer for the former St. Michael Academy star was back home in New York City, at ASA College in Brooklyn.
On Wednesday, the 6-foot-4 center signed with Seton Hall, ending one part of a long, winding journey that started with her being a non-qualifier out of St. Mike’s and almost finished with her giving up basketball altogether.
“It’s been a ride, but it was a well-needed ride – most definitely,” Webb said. “It was a maturing ride.”
The summer before Webb’s senior season at St. Michael Academy, she committed to George Washington. By November, she had changed her mind and signed with South Carolina. Webb helped lead St. Mike’s to its first and only New York State Federation Class AA title in March, but she was unable to qualify academically.
That, in itself, was a disappointment, but Webb went the junior college route. She headed off to Columbia State in Tennessee, but she was gone from there after the first semester.
“It was a small town, the backwoods of Tennessee,” Webb said. “It wasn’t a fit for me.”
Last season, she enrolled at Gulf Coast Community College in Florida, where she sat out due to transfer regulations. It was a difficult year for her there with injury issues and in August she found out that her scholarship would not be renewed.
That was about Webb’s last straw. She had played only four games in two years and was set on taking the corrections officer exam. Webb was ready to leave basketball in the rear-view mirror for good.
“Who’s gonna take a triple transfer, if that’s what you want to call it?” she said. “Who really is gonna pick me up? I was going to be done with basketball.”
Her former coaches at St. Michael Academy, Apache Paschall and Lauren Best, wouldn’t let her give up her dream, though. That’s when Adia Revell, the coach of ASA, stepped in. She played for Paschall at St. Michael’s and knew Webb for years. Revell presented her with an opportunity.
“Maybe because I was a little like that when I was younger,” Revell said.
Added Webb: “Never in a million years would I have thought I’d wind up at ASA.”
But that’s where she played this year, earning NJCAA All-American honorable mention honors. Webb averaged 9.0 points and 6.9 rebounds per game for the Avengers and, with the help of Revell, matured. Revell said she didn’t let Webb get away with the things other coaches might have and she also wouldn’t let her accept failure or defeat, always pushing her to accomplish her goals.
“She has made a tremendous amount of growth as a person,” Revell said. “Still with that amount of growth, she has a long way to go, but she can get there. She’s a really bright kid. No one really gets to see that, because she has a wall up. Most kids have a wall up.”
Webb hit another wall in January when Paschall died of cardiac arrest. It was devastating for the Harlem native.
“I thought when he passed that was my breaking point, I thought everything was over and my world crumbled,” Webb said. “Honestly, that was my father. He’s been in my life since I was 12, 13. I definitely think I’m making him proud.”
Over the last few months, especially through the tragedy of Paschall’s death, Seton Hall was omnipresent, Webb said. Assistant coach Bett Shelby and head coach Anne Donovan, formerly of the New York Liberty, showed care for her outside of basketball.
“I don’t think I’ve come across such a group of people collegiately,” Webb said. “Theyr’re so nice. … When Apache died, they played a big part in helping me get through it. That’s what I love about them. They went above and beyond.”
Webb has interest from schools like St. John’s, Mississippi State and Old Dominion, but she never considered any of them. She and the coaches from Seton Hall just “clicked instantly.”
“Seton Hall is the one that steadily kept reaching out,” Revell said. “They were always showing that they cared. I think a lot of these kids want to see coaches – whether it’s true or not – that seem to care.”
Webb was emotional again this week. She never believed another major Division I school would take a chance on her again, not after all the false starts. But with the help of Paschall, Best and Revell she never gave up.
“I’m extremely grateful,” Webb said. “Words can’t even describe it. A year ago, I never would have thought I’d be in such a great position.”
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