UDC Firebird Spotlight - Denikka Brent, Women's Basketball

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Denikka Brent is a standout senior and mechanical engineering major on the women’s basketball team from Chesapeake, Virginia.  Denikka started playing basketball in the 5th grade with great influence from her uncle, whom she considers more like her older brother. Her father, David Brent, has a career in the Navy which required her and her two younger siblings to live in many places including Tennessee and Virginia Beach.

Denikka Brent was honored for scoring her 1,000th point in a road
game at American International College on Dec.1, 2014.

Favorites:  Denikka loves seafood and is an exceptional pianist. Not only does she come from a family of athletes, but also a family of musicians. She has played the piano seriously since her sophomore year in high school. As a musician, she is a big fan of music including gospel, hip-hop, R & B, and rap. Her favorite artist is Beyoncé.

About UDC/Future Career Plans: Denikka was highly recruited and ultimately wanted a school with an engineering program. She loves Washington, D.C., and plans on returning to the area to work. She aspires to one day pursue a career in engineering, then earn her Master’s degree and continue her education with a Ph,D. in Aerospace Engineering with a concentration in NASA.

She says her student-athlete experience at UDC has thus far been great. She notes her professor, Dr. Kline, has taught her a lot and has been an encouraging force behind her studies and athletic career.

Basketball Career: Denikka’s most noted highlights of her basketball career include wining the East Coast Conference Championship and reaching the 1,000-point milestone. To prepare for games, she keeps to herself by listening to music. On the court, she finds she “thinks about a lot”, but her main focus is on winning. The advice she would give to other student-athletes is balancing athletics and academics. Also, she added that you must manage your time wisely.

Quote from Coach Lester Butler, Jr. -  “Denikka has been the face of the women’s basketball program for the last three years. She is everything you want in student-athlete – a great student and a special talent on the basketball court. She will go down as one of the greatest players to ever play for this school.”

High School: Brent is a 2011 graduate of Booker T. Washington High School...played guard for the basketball team...1st Team All-District and Team MVP…also was a member of the National Society of high school Scholars, Math National Honor Society, and National Honor Society…graduated 4th in her class with a cumulative GPA of 3.85

Personal: Daughter of David and Medina Brent...has two siblings, Destinee and David...Mechanical Engineering major…favorite athletes include Kobe Bryant, Maya Moore and Lebron James… favorite food is seafood…favorite movie is The Temptations … favorite musicians are Beyonce and Chris Brown…also recruited by Florida A&M, East Carolina, Longwood, and Furman… greatest athletic experience is getting to the NCAA tournament in her freshman year… dream as a college athlete is to make it to the NCAA tournament one more time and to win the conference title…greatest athletic influence is her father.

COURTESY UNIVERSITY OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA SPORTS INFORMATION