Janae Kent is truly cut from a special cloth.
The Oak Forest junior has never been about herself. On probably the biggest day of her young life, she wanted her teammates to be standing alongside her.
Kent announced her college commitment Friday to LSU. After her senior season, one of the greatest Bengals ever will become a Tiger.
Sharing her joy with the entire student body during the morning Bengal Roar was important to her.
“The support for me at Oak Forest has been so great,” Kent said. “Especially this year, a lot of the teachers and students supported me — which helped support all of the girls. I’ve been saying all year about how the team bond has been so strong.
“Coach (Jeff) Kelly and the staff were always there for me. These girls are like my sisters for life. Our relationship was so close. I made lifetime friends through our season this year.”
Kent chose LSU from a list of 33 Division I college offers. Michigan State, Alabama and Kentucky were among her final four.
“It was a long process,” Kent said, smiling. “But I also built so many great relationships, so it made it fun. I chose LSU after a home visit. Having them in my house, and with my brother (Jayson) being home, I knew LSU is where I need to be and where I want to be.
“Coach (Kim) Mulkey will be a great coach to play for. Under her, I’m only going to get better.”
Kent actually had two offers from LSU. The first came from longtime coach Nikki Fargas. When Fargas resigned in 2021, Kelly and Michigan Crossover coach Emez Oliver did a pretty impressive audible.
“I really appreciate what coach Kelly and Emez Oliver did,” said Jason Kent, Janae’s father. “They played a huge role in getting Janae involved with the new staff.
“Jeff Kelly worked his tail off to get her a new offer. He did a lot of hard work to ultimately get Janae to the school of her choice.”
Kent, the 2021-22 Daily Southtown Girls Basketball Player of the Year, was a leader in every sense of the word.
The 6-foot-1 junior guard/forward averaged 26.3 points and 9.5 rebounds. In conference, she averaged a double-double with 25 points and 10.7 rebounds. She was the South Suburban Blue’s player of the year for the second time and earned first team all-state honors.
The Bengals had high expectations and eventually met them, reaching the Sweet 16 in Class 3A. But along the way, there were some bumps in the road due to injuries, illnesses and other issues.
Kent was the glue that kept the team together. When she spoke, her teammates listened. And their collective game improved.
“I think it started in practice,” Kent said. “After we lost one of the girls, we met with each other and talked about it. It was more like me telling them how much I trust them.
“I would literally tell them to shoot the ball. Instilling that trust in them and hearing it from me helped them become confident in their game and helped us win a lot more games.”
The recruitment buzz at Oak Forest reached its peak during an offseason open gym, when Kent played against members of the varsity boys basketball team.
“We had 16 top Division I coaches in our gym at the same time to watch Janae play basketball against the boys,” Kelly said. “I mean, how cool is that?
“Janae was super humble during the whole process. It didn’t affect her work, her leadership, her being a teammate. She was really mature about it.”
Janae’s proud mom, Anna, told the best recruiting story of all.
“When Janae was in sixth grade and I was coaching her, we were at a tournament,” Anna said. “One of the parents from the opposite team came up and asked who she was and what grade was she in. I came to find out her husband worked at Northwestern.
“I knew then Janae was going to be special. How special I didn’t know until she started taking control of her own workouts. I didn’t have to say, ‘Janae, get up and go work out.’ She took control of when she was going to work out, when she was going to give her body a rest, making sure her academics were done first.
“Now, all of her hard work is paying off. Janae has earned everything she’s gotten.”