Clovis High School senior-to-be Antiesha Brown committed to the Texas Tech women’s basketball program on Monday.

In the Clovis Lady Wildcats’ scheme, Antiesha Brown has often played the role of an interior post player. She’ll probably continue to do so some more when the girls basketball season starts in November.

But Brown will also be polishing skills as a guard, because the 5-foot-10 senior will need them. Brown has verbally committed to play at Texas Tech University after she graduates from Clovis High in 2010.

Barring any unforeseen circumstance, Brown will become the second former Clovis girls player to don the Lady Raiders jersey. Cisti Greenwalt played for Tech from 2001-05.

The University of New Mexico, according to Clovis girls coach Jeff Reed, had offered Brown a scholarship first. Brown said she opted for Texas Tech mostly because of the company the Lady Raiders keep.

“I’m just excited to be playing the best conference for women’s basketball,” said Brown of the Big 12. “UNM has a great program. What it came down to is that I’m a huge competitor and I felt that Texas Tech had way better competition.”

Brown averaged 17 points a game during her junior year at Clovis when the Lady Cats advanced to the Class 5A quarterfinals. She also pulled down around seven rebounds and swiped four steals a contest.

Texas Tech finished the 2008-09 season with a 16-15 record. College coaches are prohibited from commenting on a recruit until a national letter-of-intent is signed.

A starter on the Clovis High volleyball team as well, Brown further displayed her athleticism in track by recording a second-place result in the long jump at the 2009 state meet.

On the basketball court, Brown got her first shot on the CHS varsity squad as a freshman. Because most of her prep points have been scored in the paint, concern emerged about Brown’s size and her ability to play inside at the next level.

“One of the (Tech) assistants told me that I had to work on my perimeter game,” Brown said. “They saw me play in April in North Carolina. They were impressed with how much work I had done from then until now.”

Brown attended a basketball camp at Texas Tech last week. When it was over, she said the call arrived from Tech head coach Kristy Curry.

“Wednesday night, I guess they had just got out of a four-hour meeting and the girl they had been recruiting for the past two years — they felt I was better than she was,” Brown said. “So they went ahead and offered me that scholarship.

“It’s great that I have a whole year to work on everything I need to work on.”

Reed said that Brown, whom he says has a “very good” mid-range jump shot, will get more opportunities from the outside during her final season — not just for Brown’s sake but for the team’s as well.

“I’m just proud of her to get that opportunity,” Reed said. “I just hope she keeps working hard and takes advantage of her senior year.

“But I think the pressure’s off her. She had barely started the process of recruiting and all this stuff, but I think it was already wearing on her.”