Downing aims for more March Madness

Chanelle Downing played mostly power forward and center her first two seasons at Coppin State, a Division I school in Baltimore. This season the 2006 Stafford High graduate has seen more action at small forward, but that does not seem to bother her.

“I think my junior season is going very successfully,” said Downing, 20, who is the all-time leading scorer for the girls program at Stafford High. “I say that because even though I played a lot of minutes last year my coach is trying to do more of matchups in games. I feel like I am getting better.”

Downing played in 17 of the first 23 games (with one start) and was averaging 12.7 minutes, 3.2 points and 2.5 rebounds per game through Feb. 20. Coppin State was 11-12 overall and 9-3 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference as the Eagles aim for a second straight appearance in the Division I NCAA tournament.

Last season Coppin State won the MEAC tourney and qualified for March Madness. Downing, in the title game win over North Carolina A & T in the MEAC tourney, had four points, five rebounds and two assists off the bench.

The No. 16 seed Eagles played a first-round game at Maryland, the national champs in 2006, and lost 80-66 to the No. 1 seed after trailing by just five points at halftime last March.

“It was exciting for me,” Downing said of her first appearance in the NCAA field. “My freshman year we didn’t get to go.”

Downing played on the same AAU team during high school with Maryland senior Kristi Toliver, considered one of the top point guards in the country and is a sure bet WNBA draft pick.

“It was pretty interesting to play with her,” Downing said. “People that have that type of ability are usually cocky. But she was a very nice person.”

The Eagles end regular-season play against Baltimore rival Morgan State on March 5 in MEAC play. The conference tournament begins March 10 in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Downing said she received letters in high school from Maryland and Wake Forest but did not respond to them. She also considered Division II Virginia State and Division I Delaware State and felt it was important to attend a historically black school such as Coppin State.

“I thought I would take the opportunity to be around people I have never been around (that much). That was my goal, to learn more about my history,” said Downing, a visual arts major who is on track to graduate in 2010.

Her parents, Christopher and Annette, attend most of her games, home and away. Her older brother, also named Christopher, played football and basketball at Stafford High. One of her younger brothers, Darrien, is a senior basketball standout this season for Stafford and a college prospect.

Downing, at Coppin State, averaged 3.1 points and 3.0 rebounds last year as a sophomore. She played in 22 games and made five starts. As a freshman she played in 12 of 33 games and averaged 3.8 minutes and 1.6 points per outing.

“We are kind of loaded at the forward spot,” said Coppin State head coach Derek Brown — a two-time coach of the year in the MEAC. “In order for her to get more playing time she had to get to the perimeter spot. She has been in games when we needed a quicker forward. The technique of her shot was not bad (coming out of high school). We just tweaked it a little bit.”

David Driver is a contributing writer for the Stafford County Sun. He can be reached at info@staffordcountysun.com.