LSU women’s basketball freshmen Jeanne Kenney and Theresa Plaisance have a long history on the court.
Kenney, a guard from St. Michael the Archangel High School in Baton Rouge, and Plaisance, a post player from Vandebilt Catholic High School in Houma, are two of the Lady Tigers’ three freshmen on the 2010 roster, and they have a friendly competition from their battle in the 2009 Class 4A title game in which Kenney’s alma mater was victorious.
The pair also teamed up in AAU basketball from as early as 10 years old, and now they are reunited at LSU.
“There’s always competition going, even if it’s racing to the car,” Plaisance said at LSU’s media day Wednesday. “And playing with each other for so long, we know each other’s playing styles. On the court it’s not really verbal, we just … feed off each other.”
The 5-foot-8-inch Kenney said she and Plaisance complement each other on the court because shooting is one of her strong suits, and passing is a strength of Plaisance, who stands at 6 feet, 5 inches.
Both girls finished their high school careers ranked in the top 40 by ESPN’s HoopGurlz.com — Kenney at No. 31 and Plaisance at No. 40. Plaisance was also ranked the No. 3 post player in the country by HoopGurlz.com.
“Coming over here has really been a blessing to have someone who knows me a lot,” Kenney said. “We’ll make eye contact on one thing, she knows I’m going backdoor, and she’ll give me a good pass. … I know when she’s going to turn, and she just has post speed.”
Plaisance has been surrounded by basketball her whole life. Her mother, DoBee, is entering her third season as the women’s basketball coach at Nicholls State and spent 13 years at the helm at Loyola.
Theresa said her mother has been a tremendous influence in her life, but she did not want to have her mother as her coach. LSU squares off at Nicholls State on Nov. 30.
“She’s a coach on and off the court,” Theresa said, “She always has something extra to tell me that maybe another coach didn’t see. She’s the reason I’m playing college ball. I wanted to stay close to home, but [Nicholls State] was a little bit too close.”
LSU coach Van Chancellor is thrilled with the freshman class the Lady Tigers feature this season.
He said a pleasant surprise has been Shanece McKinney, a 6-foot-4 native of Mobile, Ala., whose specialty is on the defensive glass.
“We needed a rebounder, and [McKinney] can really, really rebound the basketball,” Chancellor said.
McKinney injured her knee and missed eight games of her senior season but still earned the Class 5A Player of the Year Award after averaging 18 points, 14 rebounds and 3.4 blocks per game as a senior at LeFlore High School.
LSU assistant coach Joni Crenshaw said defense is an aspect of the game the freshmen need to focus on, especially since defensive performance is a trademark of the Lady Tigers.
LSU was No. 5 in the country in scoring defense this past season, No. 1 in 2007-08 and No. 8 in 2008-09.
“Theresa needs to get stronger; as big as she is, she needs to get in the weight room,” Crenshaw said. “You’ll be able to see next year a difference in her ability to hold people off. … Same with Shanece and Jeanne. Jeanne played mostly zone in high school, so man-to-man defense will be different for her.”
When asked how he would rate the 2010 freshman class, Chancellor paused before saying he sees potential for them to start down the road.
“If you sign three starters in a class, it’s going to be a heck of a class,” Chancellor said. “Now when that comes, I don’t know, but I don’t have any doubt they’re good enough.”
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Contact Rachel Whittaker at [email protected]