Heading to Pitt
CRANBERRY TWP — Brenna Wise still has lots of winning to do.
“I’m a competitor,” said Wise, a Cranberry Township native and senior at Vincentian Academy who helped the Royals’ girls basketball team to a PIAA Class A championship in March. “Losing isn’t in my favor.”
Wise, a 6-foot-1 forward, hasn’t done much losing in her time at Vincentian. As a junior, she turned in one of the most dominant seasons in memory when she averaged 19.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, 3.7 steals, 2.6 blocks and 2.4 assists per game.
She gets a chance to keep winning this winter at Vincentian and Thursday made a decision on where she will play her college basketball.
Wise chose the University of Pittsburgh, verbally committing to the school.
“It’s a huge weight off my shoulders,” Wise said. “It’s a relief, not only a relief because I’m done with the recruiting process, but a relief because I’m proud and confident of the decision I made.”
Pitt coach Suzie McConnell-Serio began recruiting Wise when she was still the women’s basketball coach at Duquesne University.
Wise said Villanova, Princeton and Dayton were her other options.
Once she had whittled it down, it became a choice between Pitt and Villanova.
“It was a whirlwind,” Wise said. “Both my parents were very supportive.”
While Wise said the recruiting process was tough, it was an enjoyable one.
“I have no complaints,” she said. “I am blessed to be in the situation I am in.”
Wise has scored nearly 1,800 points and collected nearly 750 rebounds in her career at Vincentian so far.
Barring an injury, she’s a lock to surpass 2,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds.
Numbers, though, mean little to Wise. Only letters do, namely getting “Ws.”
“As impressive as Brenna’s numbers are ... she’s not worried about them,” said Vincentian girls basketball coach Ron Moncrief in March. “She only cares about winning.”
Finally able to exhale, Wise is looking forward to her senior season with the Royals.
She’s also looking forward to the next chapter of her playing career at Pitt, she said.
“I’m looking to win (at Pitt),” Wise said. “I want to be a part of a team that builds a legacy.”
