Brooke Blankenship perseveres through senior year
After walking on to the Green Wave women"s basketball team as a freshman in 2010, senior Brooke Blankenship"s journey as a student-athlete has been far from ordinary.
First a walk-on player for head coach Lisa Stockton, Brooke Blankenship got a scholarship for her senior year. She graduates on May 17 with dual degrees in business. (Photo by Parker Waters)
Her initial decision to attend Tulane University was spontaneous.
“I like to tell people that God put me here, because really I flipped a coin,” Blankenship says.
A four-sport athlete at Heber Springs High School in Arkansas, Blankenship accepted an offer to play for the Tulane women"s basketball team after she met with an assistant coach, who arranged a tryout.
“I think I"m definitely one of the few walk-ons that coach (Lisa) Stockton has ever taken, so it was kind of a learning experience for everyone,” Blankenship says.
As a walk-on, she played for two years until she suffered a back injury at the end of her sophomore season. Despite her efforts of rehabilitation, it became apparent that she would no longer be able to continue with the team.
Blankenship began working in the athletics department. It was a no-brainer for her to remain with the athletics family that she had become a part of. But she was soon in for another surprise. She was cleared by the team doctor and offered a spot back on the team, along with a full scholarship for her senior year.
“It was fantastic. It definitely came full circle. I thought I retired. To come out of retirement, and to get a scholarship, it was pretty big,” Blankenship says. “It was definitely not the way that I think anyone would have scripted it, but I would say it was perfect. Just perfect.”
Blankenship will graduate with a dual degree in finance and management and will pursue a master"s degree from the A. B. Freeman School of Business at Tulane.
Savanna Stevens, a student worker in athletics communications, is a junior majoring in communication at Tulane University.
