Like Brown, Scott raises standard at Mississippi School for the Deaf

From: Jackson Clarion Ledger, MS - May 9, 2003

By Robert Wilson
rwilson@clarionledger.com

RO'DERRICK Brown could be the best boy athlete in the history of the Mississippi School for the Deaf.

Brown, just a freshman, has taken the Bulldog football team to new heights, winning its second straight national eight-man deaf championship and a 12-game winning streak over the past two years.

He had 1,988 all-purpose yards and scored 25 touchdowns this fall. Brown averaged 253 rushing yards per game and didn't even play the whole game sometimes.

At least one college coach has told MSD football coach Joseph Thrasher that Brown is a Division I prospect.

Now, go back to the first paragraph. I said that Brown could be the best boy athlete in MSD history. Emphasis on boy because Brown has some major competition from a girl who is on campus right now.

Hoops star

In fact, Thrasher, who also coaches girls basketball, said that sophomore Angela Scott is even more dominant in her sports than Brown is. That's quite a statement when you look back at those numbers in the earlier paragraphs.

Scott was a force in volleyball and girls basketball for the past two seasons.

She led MSD to its first volleyball win in several years last year as a freshman and led the team in several categories this past year.

In basketball, the 5-foot-10 Scott averaged 17 points, 15 rebounds and 4 blocked shots and led the team to a 21-8 record, the first time in school history the team had won 20 games in basketball. Scott has been named the co-MVP of the Mason Dixon Invitational ? which features some of the best deaf basketball teams and players in the country ? for the past two years. She also led MSD to two straight tournament titles. Last year's championship was the first at MSD in the 25-year history of the tournament.

"Ro' Derrick is a good one, but Angela just might be his match or better," Thrasher said. "She can do it all. She looks me right in the eye (at 5-10), can jump well and has thighs bigger than mine. Angela is a fabulous athlete."

Possible triple

Saturday, Scott will attempt to win three events in the Class 1A state track meet for coach Sammy Williamson. She specializes in the 100 and 200 meter runs and high jump. Scott won each event in the South 1A meet last week. She finished second in the high jump and fourth in the 100 and 200 in last year's 1A state meet. And that was after sitting out the regular season with a toe injury. As an eighth-grader, Scott finished second in the 300 hurdles in the 1A state meet.

As like many of the students at MSD, Scott said that she is better off there than at home. Her home in Mound Bayou where her father, Willie, operates a tractor for a farmer and provides for his wife, Jeanette, and his five children, Angela, Willie, Emmet, LeMonica and Travis. Another son, Anthony, was killed in an automobile accident last year.

"I get to see my family on weekends,"said Scott through interpreter Lynne Cox, a literature teacher at MSD. "I wanted to come here because I wanted to be with other deaf students.

"The teachers here have helped me after the brother was killed. Coach Thrasher has also helped me deal with it. There are many people here who care about me and make sure I do well in school. My parents are proud of how I've done in school and in sports."

Scott has goals of going to college and being a star in one of the her sports. After she finishes college, Scott wants to coach and teach.

Scott can't hear, but she can see the crowds cheer for her like they will be Saturday at the track meet.

"Angela has overcome a lot," Thrasher said. "She is a great athlete, but she is very humble. It's been a joy to have great athletes like Ro'Derrick and Angela to coach and watch perform."

Copyright © 2003, The Clarion-Ledger.