Jessica Previlon’s signature athletic moment in her first two years at Midwood was helping lead the Hornets girls’ soccer team to the PSAL Class A quarterfinals as a freshman goalkeeper.
She was a good goalkeeper and probably could have developed into one of the best in New York City. In her other sport, basketball, Previlon was a bench warmer. She was extremely athletic, but had not put it all together. As a freshman, she played in nine games, averaging less than a point per. The next year, she played in nine more, averaging 3.7 points per game.
“Some kids come out of eighth grade and [college] coaches are already seeing where they’re going,” said Rochelle Murphy, who coaches with the Brooklyn Saints AAU program. “She was a virtual unknown.”
But in the last two years, Previlon has made herself particularly well known. Midwood’s 5-foot-10 star forward has rounded into one of the best at her position in the five boroughs. She’s averaging 18.6 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, boasting a handful of dominant performances against strong opposition.
It’s a far cry from her days on the soccer field and the bench.
“We did catch some people by surprise,” Hornets coach Artie LaGreca said of Previlon’s ability. “She’s not a surprise anymore.”
Previlon quit soccer after ninth grade, wanting to focus more on basketball. She thought that would take her the furthest and really fell in love with the game.
“If she didn’t play basketball, I said she could have been a Division I goalkeeper in soccer,” LaGreca said. “She would have made a great first baseman in softball, probably could have been a Division I softball player. Lacrosse? She would have been a great lacrosse player.”
She didn’t really have an outlet for basketball besides school, though, until Murphy approached her during Previlon’s senior season. At the time, Murphy’s daughter Melanie, who is now playing at Stanford, was teammates with Previlon at Midwood. A few of the Hornets had already played with the Brooklyn Saints and Previlon jumped at the chance.
“It changed me a lot,” Previlon said of traveling with the Saints in the spring and summer. “I started getting all these letters [from colleges] – I’m still getting letters.”
Along the way, she transferred that God-given athletic ability into basketball skills. Her handle improved. Her footwork, a key for any post player, started to come around. Her jump shots started to fall. Previlon was making herself into a very good player – something she never really expected to be when she was playing in the Kings Bay youth league as youngster.
“Basketball was a hobby,” Previlon said. “I never thought I’d take it seriously.”
But it has become a major part of her life. Her grades, though improved recently, won’t allow her to qualify for a Division I scholarship next fall, Previlon will attend a Division I junior college and is a virtual lock to go D-I in a few years.
“I haven’t seen many power forwards in New York City, in the public schools that can match up with her,” LaGreca said.
Previlon is a nightmare for opposing defenses. She’s too tall and strong to be guarded by a small forward and too quick to be guarded by a natural post. Along with her work on the court, Previlon also frequents Crunch gym in downtown Brooklyn to lift weights and work out. One of her fitness secrets is Ensure, the nutrient shake usually consumed by elderly people.
“I need to gain weight,” Previlon said with a laugh. “It’s pretty good, though.”
She hasn’t been handed many things in her life, coming from a single-mother home in the Vanderveer projects of Brooklyn. Previlon does have a nice support group, though, consisting foremost with her mother Viergelie Noel, Murphy, who she calls “a second mom,” and LaGreca. She credits her toughness and athletic ability to two older brothers, Davidson Noel, 27, and Gibson Noel, 26.
“Some people go through hard times and they put their heads down, but I keep my head up,” Previlon said. “I never stop at all. I’m like a battery. I just keep recharging.”
Part of that recharge is plans for after high school. Previlon wants to go to a four-year Division I school after JUCO and major in sports management or physical therapy. Her dream is to make it to the WNBA, but if that doesn’t work out, she wouldn’t mind a career playing basketball in Europe. Most importantly, though, is giving back to her mother.
“She’s been there for me, she takes care of me, she feeds me, she puts clothes on my back,” Previlon said. “I owe her. She says I don’t, but I do.”
There are a few weeks left of her high-school season left. Midwood will meet either Lincoln or Canarsie in the PSAL Class AA second round next week and Previlon, as has been the case this year, will be the Hornets’ go-to player inside. That wasn’t always the case.
“The potential was there,” Murphy said. “You could see she was so strong. You could see she had desire. I figured she could go as far as she wanted to go.”
Like a battery, Previlon just keeps going.
