Howard University’s tennis program has found their newest star in freshman Imani Jean, making waves in the collegiate tennis scene.
From the late Althea Gibson to retired legendary players such as Serena and Venus Williams and Zina Garrison to Naomi Osaki, Sloane Stephens, Ora Washington and Coco Gauff, Black women have been barrier-breakers and powerhouses who have made their marks on professional tennis courts.
Now, Imani Jean, a freshman member of the Howard University women’s tennis team, is getting lots of attention for her early success on the court. A native of Brooklyn, New York, Jean currently has an 11-3 record in singles matches with a streak of seven straight wins, and is also a member of the Bison doubles team. In addition, Jean is a shoo-in for Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Rookie of the Year after having been named Rookie of the Week six times this season.
Jean has an interesting journey to her current journey. It all started as a 6-year-old.
“I saw Serena playing at the U.S. Open when I was like 6 years old and told myself that was who I wanted to be like,” recalled Jean. “My mother decided to enter me into a USTA tennis program and that is how it started for me.”
Her serious competitive days began at age 13, when Jean began dividing her time between Brooklyn and College Park, Maryland, where she trained at Junior Tennis Champions Center. She attended an online high school.
Jean was a part of an intensive program that put a great emphasis on high-level training. She was on her way to the type of exposure that interests recruiters.
But things took a sudden turn and quickly changed momentarily for the aspiring teenager.
“I suffered an injury in my junior year,” explained Jean.”Now I was being recruited by some high-level [Division II] schools as far away as California, but Howard offered, and I decided I wanted to come here because I wanted to be amongst people who look like me and shared some common interests.”
#HowardUniversity #TennisGem #ImaniJean
