Lindsey Brown grew up an Auburn fan, but that was before she fell in love with the University of Alabama.
Brown, Edgewood Academy’s star junior, recently committed to play college volleyball at Alabama. She grew up being an Auburn fan her entire life, and Auburn was her dream school before this process happened.
Brown’s entire family is Auburn fans, including her father, Shane Brown.
The only person in her family who isn’t an Auburn fan is her mom, Edgewood Academy softball coach Kim Brown. She’s an Alabama fan, and she quickly urged Lindsey to take the offer in front of her.
[Courtesy Photo] Edgewood Academy’s Lindsey Brown poses in an Alabama jersey after committing to the Crimson Tide volleyball program.
“I never knew Alabama was so special and it’s just a special place in my heart now replacing Auburn,” Brown said. “Everyone in my family has always been rooting Auburn, Auburn, Auburn, and now I get this Alabama offer and my mom is telling me to take it. I took it and now I think my family is starting to switch over like I have.”
Going Division I has always been Brown’s dream, but it wasn’t always in volleyball. Brown was pursuing softball up until a few years ago, when volleyball started to take over her life.
And after quickly excelling at the sport and helping lead Edgewood Academy to three straight state championships in the sport, she spent the summer working on college opportunities. She went to multiple camps across the Southeast, and the Alabama camp really stuck out to her when she took it in the summer.
“As soon as I stepped on Alabama’s campus, I just felt so welcome,” Brown said. “The program is amazing and the new coaching staff is amazing. I just felt like home. The recruiting process really started at that camp. They called me the week after and they offered me then. I left the offer on the table for three to four weeks, and then I committed last week. It’s been pretty great.”
Around the county and state, Brown is known as one of the more powerful outside hitters on the court. As a sophomore last year, she recorded 267 kills and is always going all-out on the court.
But due to her height not being the ideal height for an outside hitter in college, she is committing to Alabama as a libero.
That’s no shock to anyone who has seen Brown play. As good as she is on offense, she’s equally as good, if not better, on defense. Last year, she recorded 302 digs and that was while playing primarily as an outside hitter.
“I’m going to be a libero,” Brown said. “I like defense a lot better actually. Defense has always been one of my main things. I wanted to go to college to be a libber because I’m not tall enough, but it’s just in me. I like defense so much more than offense.”
Alabama volleyball recently hired a new head coach, and that was one of the deciding factors for Brown to commit. Rashinda Reed came in after spending the last five seasons at the University of Illinois as an assistant.
At Illinois, she helped the Fighting Illini make four NCAA Tournament Appearances. That included two Sweet 16 appearances and a Final Four appearance in 2018.
While there, she coached two All-Americans and two All-Big Ten honorees.
Under Reed, Alabama is off to a 4-2 start in 2022.
“I really like her determination and her motivation towards recruits,” Brown said. “It took her about three or four days to call me, and she offered me on the spot. I loved the intensity that they showed at the camp with the players. When I made my visit and watched practice, the coaches were very involved with drills and it felt like I belonged there. I like it a lot and coach Reed is amazing.”
