Meet the Bulldog: Keely Brown

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Keely Brown played four years on varsity at Luella High School and had her stories about Fresno State hoops from her head coach.

"The older fans that have been there supporting the Bulldog family for so long," says Layota Brown. "How special it is to be a part of the Bulldog family."

When it came to her senior year, Keely had an offer from Fresno State. An opportunity to be a Bulldog just like Coach Brown.

"Fresno remained at my heart because I knew my coach played and I knew if I ever needed anything, I knew she would be honest with me about the type of place that Fresno was," Keely said. "So when I narrowed down to four, Fresno was obviously in it. As soon as I narrowed it down to my top four, she completely fell out of my recruiting process. She didn't want to have any stigma that she forced me to go here, it was my own decision."

Keely finally made her decision and decided she would continue her basketball career on the West Coast.

"I was jumping up screaming like, 'Let's go, let's go.'"

Keely says joining a team that is coming off winning a title has challenged her to work even harder.

"It's definitely a championship mindset, so coming into this team knowing that we have a lot to prove and still have everyone gunning at us," she said. "It just makes you work a lot harder in practice."

The freshman has Latoya to lean on for advice since her team at Fresno State laid the foundation for a winning tradition.

Coach Brown helped lead the Bulldogs to back-to-back WAC championships and two NCAA tournament appearances.

"I mess with her all the time and tell her, 'Don't forget when you walk in the locker room and see my face in there.' Being the first group of girls to win it all there. But what these girls did last year was amazing. For her to come in, unlike high school, getting double teamed, now you have the twins, you have Maddi, you can just relax. I don't how Coach White would feel about it, I'm just saying player-wise, you don't have all that pressure on you anymore. I really think for the next couple of years, she can brag to me that she got four rings, and I only got two there," Latoya said.