By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

Shanea Armbrister came out of Darton Junior College as an All-American with high hopes of excelling as a member of the women’s Bulldogs basketball team at the University of Georgia.

However, she got sidelined by a lateral injury that she played with for years until she finally required surgery to correct it and wasn’t able to make the kind of impact that she expected. But now that she’s fully healed, Armbrister is looking forward to completing her senior year on a high note.

“After surgery, I was slowed down a bit, but as I progressed and did all of my rehab, I know that I will be back bigger and better,” said Armbrister, who was home recently for a short visit. “I know I will get more minutes and be able to produce more.”

She said she’s looking forward to playing in the system that is being operated by Joni Taylor, now in her second year as head coach after serving the past three of her four seasons as associate head coach.

“We had a good season. We made it to the SEC Tournament after we didn’t make it last year,” Armbrister said. “So we had a pretty good season. We broke a lot of records that we didn’t do for years.

“Although we had a new coach, she came in head strong. She knew what she was doing. She knows how to get the most out of us, so I know when the new season starts, she’s going to be looking for me to be doing a lot of great things. I’m looking for some great things for myself as well.”

As she takes a break for the summer, Armbrister said she intends to make sure that firstly, she stays in shape, and secondly, she becomes more aggressive as a player.

Armbrister, 21, is the lone Bahamian playing on the Bulldogs’ basketball team. The six-foot, two-inch guard is fitting right into the scoop of things as she studies towards her degree in sociology.

“Being a Bahamian is good because everybody wants to hear your accent,” Armbrister said.

“It’s good just being the lone person there. I’m just looking at going back and getting into the summer camps (in Athens, Georgia) and getting back in shape. I want to be able to perform at my best.”

After sitting out the majority of her junior year because of the surgery, Armbrister said she’s eager to get back into the flow of things for the Bulldogs when her senior year gets underway in August.

“I expect it to be tougher than last year because I will be able to do everything in full swing,” she said. “We have a lot of seniors who are gone, so I’m expected to be one of the seniors to step in and help to carry the load for the team so I have to step up and be more of a leader.

“It’s going to be a lot tougher, but I don’t expect anything less. I had surgery the day after they found out I had the injury. It played with my mind, it threw me off guard, but I’m glad that I got the surgery and now I’m back to my old self.”

Having gone through her first surgery of any kind, Armbrister said she missed the entire foundation for the past season and by the time she got on her feet, the season had already started.

“I met people who were good as me and even better,” said Armbrister, who played for the Bahamas women’s national basketball team before she underwent her surgery. “I’m a scorer and at this level, everybody contributes.

“This year, I’m looking to take over. They haven’t really seen what I can do yet. I’m looking forward to it.”

Once she’s done after this season, Armbrister is hoping to become a grad assistant and then go overseas to play basketball for at least 4-5 years.

“When I’m done, I want to come home and run some camps in the area where I grew up like DW Davis Gym and Hay Street in the ghetto,” she said. “That’s my plan. I want to give back to where it all started for me.

“I just want to show others that anybody can do it. If I can do it, I know that they can do it. They just have to grab it. Coming out of the ghetto with both parents gone, I didn’t expect anything less. I knew I had to still live. When you go over there, you have new things that you never had before, but I didn’t allow it to get the best of me.”

As a product out of Hay Street, Armbrister said she has gotten a great support system in Athens, but she admitted that she will never ever forget where she comes from.

“You can’t never forget where you come from,” she said.

“But I just can’t stay on the streets here anymore. Things have changed. The streets are not just the same anymore. That’s why I want to hurry up and finish so I can come back and contribute to help others to go off to school.

“I also want to change the game. I’ve been through some coaches who have been right in your face and some who chill. Some push you right over the top and there are some who are calm, cool and collective.”