Brown remains loyal to Illinois

The day she and her mother, Sharon, sat down and talked with University of Illinois women's soccer coach Janet Rayfield, Kassidy Brown could hardly contain her excitement when a scholarship offer was made to her.

"My eyes got huge," Brown said. "It was just so unexpected. I was literally speechless."

More than a year after her unofficial visit to Illinois' Champaign campus and her face-to-face meeting with Rayfield during the fall of her junior year in high school, Brown remains wide-eyed with excitement.

The Carmel Catholic senior officially became a member of the Illini women's soccer family Wednesday, when she signed a national letter of intent.

"I've been grinning so much," Brown said.

She had given a verbal commitment to Illinois less than a week after her unofficial visit back in the fall of 2008. When she called Rayfield to tell her she was accepting her scholarship offer, Brown was prepared.

"I think I had written down what I was going to say," she said, "because I was so nervous."

Brown will be playing her fourth season of varsity soccer this spring. While she's both a two-time Daily Herald All-Area and All-East Suburban Catholic Conference forward and has been a prolific scorer, she said Rayfield plans to move her to defense.

"I trust her to put me back there," Brown said.

The move just might make sense for Brown considering, one, she thinks her 5-foot-9 frame will suit her well on defense and, two, she prefers putting teammates in position to score rather than score herself.

After totaling 17 goals and 18 assists in 22 games as a sophomore and helping Carmel go 22-2 in earning a berth in the Class AA state quarterfinals, Brown scored 18 goals and dished out 12 assists in 20 matches last season.

"I don't think I have a nose for the goal," she said. "I'm more of a playmaker. I think my assists have been more important than my goals during high school and club."

Brown, who plays club for the Lake Zurich-based ELA Elite, said she had also talked to Missouri and DePaul. But her heart was always with the Illini. She took her only official visit a couple of months ago, and it was to Illinois.

"It's nice and close to home so I know my mom will be at every single game," Brown said. "(Illinois) is known for its great education, and it's the Big Ten. Those three things made it the perfect choice for me."

At Illinois, Brown will join a team that went an uncharacteristic 7-9-3 last fall. Under Rayfield in 2008, the Illini made a trip to the NCAA Round of 16 for the third time in the last five seasons.

"It's such an accomplishment I feel I've (achieved)," Brown said. "I feel all the hard work has paid off."