Sports
Bigger Than Basketball: Women's Basketball Welcomes Walk-On … – Rutgers Scarlet Knights
Women’s Basketball
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Head coach of the Rutgers women’s basketball team Coquese Washington has announced a new addition to the team with incoming freshman Kennedy Brandt. The combo guard/forward joins the Scarlet Knights after graduating from Glenbard West High School this past spring.
Brandt had success in high school, as she was honored as the Female Athlete of the Year at Glenbard West. She earned All-State, All-Conference and All-Area honors in basketball as well. On the hardwood, the Glen Ellyn, Illinois native averaged 15 points, five rebounds and three assists per game. She also played on AAU team, the Illinois Rockets.
Brandt excelled in other sports as well, as she led her field hockey team to a pair of fourth place finishes in the state tournament in 2019 and 2022 while also being a state qualifier in track and field.
But basketball was always different for Brandt. Her father, Bert, played basketball at Glenbard West and both of her paternal grandparents attended the school. Her grandfather went on to become a huge fan of high school sports. Even though Brandt’s grandfather passed away when she was just three years old, his memory lives on in her.
“His name is on the school fight song in our high school gym and all the stories that I’ve ever been told was that he was at every single sporting event in that gym,” Brandt said. “He loved watching sports, and I feel like basketball is my way to have a connection with him without even really knowing him. So, it was my goal to be in that gym all four years.”
Brandt also has twin brothers, Ben and Ty. Going to their practices is what originally sparked her interest in basketball but now their relationship has evolved to supporting each other outside of the gym as well.
Her brother Ben has a condition called cerebral palsy which is a disorder that affects a person’s ability to move and maintain balance and posture due to weakness or problems with using the muscle.
However, this didn’t stop Ben from playing sports and competing with Brandt by his side.
“Growing up, my parents always treated him like there was nothing wrong,” Brandt said. “So, he got thrown into playing normal sports and everything. Then four or five years ago, my parents found a track & field team for kids with disabilities that he could go out and train with. He was going out to practice almost two hours away about two times a week. He’s been working all through college to do it too.”
Through the team, Ben started competing in discus, shotput, javelin and some events on the track. He qualified for the World Team and the U.S. Paralympics, traveling to Spain and Portugal last year. Ben will most likely be heading to the 2023 games in Germany as well.
“It makes me so excited,” Brandt added. “It’s something that he’s always strived for. He loves to compete, and he found his own way to do it. It’s also like his built-in friends are his teammates as well, so I just love watching him succeed at something and be so happy.”
Both Ben and Ty are equally supportive of Brandt as well.
Brandt always envisioned herself hooping at the collegiate level, but she wasn’t 100 percent sure she would take the leap. She continued her training to stay ready and during her senior year, she made the decision to play college basketball. Both of her brothers were by her side throughout the recruiting process.
“They both support in their own ways,” Brandt added. “My one brother [Ben], he would text me if he knew I was going on a visit and say ‘you got this, you’re going to be fine. You’re going to like it.’ He was always so positive. Then the other one, [Ty] whenever he could, he’d come home, and we he would go to the gym with me. We would just shoot and that was kind of our way. We didn’t have to talk, we could sit there in silence and just shoot together.”
That kind of relationship is how Brandt and her sibling were raised. Their extremely tight family unit became even closer over COVID, when the three of them were quarantining together and their relationship reached a new level.
“We’re a family, family,” stated Brandt. “We choose to hang out with our family over our friends. Obviously, siblings fight but over COVID you had to figure out how to not fight. All of a sudden me and my brothers woke up one day and decided we were actually going to be friends. I call or text my brother almost every day just to ask what he’s doing, or he tells me when he gets to the gym and what he’s doing at the gym every single day. So, it’s just a really close-knit relationship.”
When finding what school Brandt would call home, she was looking for these kinds of family characteristics, traditions and values. She found that, with Coach Washington and the Scarlet Knights.
Washington creates a true family atmosphere “On The Banks” and genuinely cares about how student-athletes are developing on campus, in the classroom and on the court.
“I think Coach Washington places a huge importance on culture and she cares about who we are as people and not just basketball players,” added Brandt. “She wants to develop us obviously on the court, but she also cares about us off the court.”
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