Marty Rowe has gone back into the Nashville area for his first signee for 2013-14. The Lee women’s basketball coach will add size to his roster by successfully recruiting Shelby Brown from Beech High School.

Brown is a 6-foot-2 post player who averaged 10 rebounds as a junior for the Buccaneers. She is also an excellent student, carrying a 3.85 GPA.

“We’re really excited to add Shelby as our first signee for next year’s recruiting class,” said Rowe. “She comes from a great family and has been well-coached in both high school and AAU.” Her mother (Aimee) is a member of the Belmont University Basketball Hall of Fame and her father (Lance) is the chaplain for the Vanderbilt football team.

“Shelby is long and has great hands, plus we feel like she is still growing into her body,” noted Rowe. “We think she has the potential to be a really solid college post. Like several of our post players past and present, she has the ability to score inside and also shoot it from the perimeter.”

After visiting Lee, the Browns’ first thoughts, like so many others, were about the university’s campus. “I loved the campus and the people we met were really nice,” she commented. “My walk with Christ is very important to me and I really liked the Christian atmosphere at Lee. Once I visited, I had a hard time seeing myself going anywhere else.”

She added, “I hope, because of my height, I can help the team with rebounding. However, I know to compete at the college level I must get stronger physically. I am really looking forward to learning from coach Rowe and his staff. The main thing I want to do is help the Lee Lady Flames anyway I can.”