Knock-Down Nae: Brinae Alexander Is Thriving As A Three-Point Sniper And A Captain At Maryland

Talking to Brinae Alexander after any Maryland basketball game might require asking her to repeat herself a few times. 

More often than not, the senior from Murfreesboro, TN, winds up losing her voice by the end of games—a direct result of her constant communication and vocal leadership for the Terps. 

“I pride myself on bringing that voice to our team, on always talking, so that my teammates know I have their back and that they can trust me to always show up,” Alexander said. “From a team standpoint, I know (communication) is what we need as a whole, so I try to always make sure I’m consistent with it—even if I do lose my voice a lot because of it.”

That natural leadership came through as soon as Alexander stepped foot on campus this past summer—so much so that she was voted a captain heading into the season despite having been a Terp for just a few months. 

“[Alexander’s] gonna tell you what you need to hear,” sophomore guard Shyanne Sellers said at Maryland’s preseason media day. “I think it’s very important for someone who wants to be a captain to come into a new school and not be afraid to say their piece and say what’s on their mind.”

The captainship is not a role that Alexander takes lightly. 

As someone thrust into a leadership role from her first days at Vanderbilt (where she spent the first four years of her collegiate career), Alexander knows firsthand the importance of having a guiding presence for younger players. That role has been even more important with a Maryland team that only returned four players from last year. 

“I really take pride in being a captain,” Alexander said. “I love it so much. I knew with us having such a new team that this was going to be a great opportunity to lead a young group of girls both vocally and by example using all the tools I learned at Vanderbilt.”

Alexander’s impact hasn’t just been felt in the locker room, her on-court play is a massive reason why the Terps have jumped out to an 8-3 start with a pair of ranked road victories to their name.  

“I love her consistency,” head coach Brenda Frese said. “She comes in every single day with her voice and her toughness. She’s shooting the ball really well for us as a knockdown shooter, which we’ve gotta be able to have.”

Alexander has certainly lived up to that knock-down shooting billing in recent games. In the Terps’ 25-point rout against Pittsburgh over Thanksgiving weekend, Alexander made five triples on eight attempts for a season-high 17 points. The very next game, a nationally televised matchup at No. 7 Notre Dame, Alexander hit a pair of threes from the corner with under six minutes left to help the Terps overcome a late four-point deficit and come out of South Bend with the win. 

“That’s that SEC experience, it was huge,” Frese said of Alexander’s big shots against the Irish. “I love the fact that she had a short memory and wanted that moment.”

A career 34 percent shooter from behind the arc, Alexander didn't necessarily come into Maryland with a reputation as a sniper from deep. 

However, she’s been extremely confident in that part of her game since she turned herself into a three-point shooter during her junior year of high school and, subsequently, has embraced that role on a Maryland team that needed a shooting boost.

“I wanted to be the knock-down shooter for this team, I wanted that to be my role. I wanted my team to trust me to hit the shot and my coaches know that they can get a three for me. It’s something that I really do work on and really do lock in on. I know in big moments when we need a shot, I’ve gotta knock it down and I embrace that pressure.”

For as much success as she’s experienced so far this season, Alexander’s time in college basketball has been full of ups-and-downs. 

Starting her career in Nashville, she missed nine games in the middle of her freshman campaign with an injury—and contemplated leaving the game behind altogether after the season finished. And while her sophomore season got off to a sizzling start as she led Vanderbilt in scoring with 13.4 points per game, she suffered a season-ending achilles injury in her seventh game of the year. 

Still, Alexander was able to find some light in the darkness of the unfortunate injury luck.

“Looking back, that achilles tear was a blessing in disguise,” Alexander said. “Obviously, when it happened, it was the most devastating thing because I had never had an injury like that and I had never sat out for that long ever. It was a big change, a big adjustment, but I learned so much just by watching. You can’t fully evaluate when you’re on the floor with everybody, but when you’re sitting on the sidelines, you can really see everything and see it in a different way. I think my knowledge of the game grew so much.”

As luck would have it, Alexander wasn’t able see a complete year in her third season either as Vanderbilt played just eight games before the team came to a decision to discontinue their season due to health and safety concerns during the height of COVID. And, of course, as a finally healthy Alexander prepared to head into her fourth and final season in Nashville, the Commodores underwent a coaching change. 

Alexander stuck with the program through new coach Shea Ralph’s first season, leading the team in scoring with 15.2 points per game as the Commodores amassed a 16-19 record. Overall, Vanderbilt went 41-62 in the four years Alexander was there.

But even through the various hardships, Alexander wouldn’t trade those experiences for anything.

“I learned so much in a good way. To be successful you have to go through failures, and I went through a lot of that at Vanderbilt. Going to Vanderbilt was the most that I’d ever lost in my life. I came out of high school with three state championships in a row and my AAU team rarely lost, so it was a big perspective change. I learned the importance of grinding everyday, working out behind the scenes and knowing that every little thing matters.”

After finishing her fourth season at Vanderbilt, Alexander entered the portal looking for a new home as a graduate transfer.

“I had made my mark at Vanderbilt,” she said. “I had done what I wanted to do there. I left it in peace and I was open about the fact that I wanted to transfer.”

Alexander went looking for somewhere she could spend her final two years of eligibility and Maryland, encompassing a school, program and coach that she had long admired, quickly rose to the top of her list. 

“I lowkey always kind of wanted to come to Maryland,” Alexander said. “It was my number one choice right away when I entered the portal and they were immediately interested too.” 

Maryland offered Alexander the ability to compete in a top-conference that wasn’t the SEC, a chance to be close to family with an uncle who lives in DC, and the opportunity to play under Frese, a coach she has always looked up to. 

As soon as she committed, Alexander knew she made the right choice.

“It has just made my heart so full and I’ve loved it so much,” Alexander said of her time at Maryland. “If you would’ve told me when I was younger that I would be coming to the University of Maryland. I would have never believed you, but it’s been such a dream.”

Now 11 games into her Maryland career and coming off her first start as a Terp, Alexander has savored every step of the journey so far as she chases not only a Big Ten Championship, but also her first NCAA Tournament appearance. For the fifth-year guard, being part of a historical powerhouse of a program for the first time is not something she will ever take lightly. 

“I think my whole perspective is way different than any of my other teammates, especially the ones that have always won,” Alexander said. “I have to remind them sometimes that they don’t know how hard it can really be. I don’t take anything for granted here, I’m so grateful for everything here.”

And though it may be hard to hear her say it after a game with her voice basically gone from encouraging and cheering her teammates on, Brinae Alexander could not be happier to be a Terp.

“I love that I have this new awareness about basketball, about life and about my opportunities and future. For me it doesn’t get better than this. This is my dream.”