I missed them getting their release in April.
http://www.mlive.com/sports/flint/index.ssf/2013/07/detroit_mercy_grew_toxic_for_f.html#incart_river_defaultGRAND BLANC, MI – Wayne State University's women's basketball team this year is getting a powerhouse junior scorer and a solid sophomore after two teammates from Grand Blanc jumped from University of Detroit-Mercy's Division I program to Wayne State's Division II team
Shareta Brown and teammate Destiny La Vita-Stephens, both Grand Blanc grads, were released in April from their Division I basketball scholarships with the Titans at their request.
The girls are teammates and consider themselves sisters. La Vita-Stephens' parents were given legal custody of Brown as a minor in 2009. Both women said they are changing schools to pursue their own happiness.
Both signed July 8 to play hoops at Wayne State University. Darrin McAllister, La Vita-Stephens' father, is an assistant coach for the women's basketball team.
As a star player at Detroit-Mercy, Brown said she was treated well, but left Detroit-Mercy because of conflict with Coach Autumn Rademacher. Brown said she didn't like the way the coach talked to other players.
As a sophomore, Brown set new scoring records, led the Titans to a Women's Basketball Invitational Championship and became the second Titan to ever average 20 points in a season. She was on track to be the lady Titans' all-time leading scorer.
"I didn't like how (Rademacher) treated people, plus I don't think that I was getting better myself. I was limited to do just one thing and if I didn't do what she wanted me to do, then she would get mad," Brown said.
La Vita-Stephens, who averaged 3.2 points in 14.7 minutes as a freshman, said she decided halfway through the last season that she would leave the team.
"I didn't know Reta felt the way she felt. I thought she was going to stick it out, but I never felt comfortable at that school," La Vita-Stephens said.
Rademacher responded to an email from MLive-The Flint Journal with thanks for reaching out to hear both sides of the story, but said she was informed that she is "unable to comment on student-athletes that are no longer enrolled here."
UDM's media relations department "wishes them the best in their future." No other statements or comments were released on the school's behalf.
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Former Detroit Mercy basketball star Shareta Brown (No. 24) has transferred to Wayne State University.
UDM Sports Info
After announcing she would leave Detroit-Mercy in May, Brown said she was contacted by 20-25 coaches in Division I programs from conferences like the SEC, Big Ten, Big EAST, Conference USA and the MAC.
Brown wanted to stay near her family in Michigan, though, and when UDM granted her scholarship release on April 25, the university blocked her from attending any Horizon League institutions -- Western Michigan, Eastern Michigan, South Florida, Toledo, Michigan and Michigan State.
La Vita-Stephens was given the same restrictions, but promptly decided on Wayne State, where her father is part of the coaching staff.
"That wasn't the only reason why we came over there," said La Vita-Stephens, who will pursue a nursing degree at WSU. "I just knew that my dad would have my back and it would help if I was over there with my other half (her father)."
McAllister and WSU declined to comment on the players' decision to come to the school.
Brown initially looked to attend Oakland University, but ultimately decided to follow La Vita-Stephens and attend the smaller program at Wayne State, where they both can play right away next season.
NCAA rules would force them to sit out a season if they transferred to A Division I school, but are allowed to play at the smaller-division Wayne State.
"At first, I was thinking that I should go to a higher school, but I really don't have to prove myself no more," said Brown, who broke the Horizon League single-year scoring record with 714 points last season. "I've played against Penn State, Michigan and Michigan State and I did good. There's plenty of people that have played D2 that have did their thing and what they wanted to do, so that's not going to hold me back, it's just going to make me better."
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Destiny La Vita-Stephens
UDM Athletics
Brown and La Vita-Stephens are shooting for a national title at Wayne State this season.
La Vita-Stephens' parents – McAllister and Michelle La Vita – were granted legal custody of Brown before the start of her junior year, which allowed her to move to Grand Blanc. La Vita-Stephens and Brown starred at Grand Blanc from 2009-11 and teamed up on McAllister's Michigan Fire and All Michigan Amateur Athletic Union basketball teams.
Michelle La Vita says her girls' decision to leave Detroit-Mercy initially caused a division within the family: McAllister felt the players were hitting the "freshman wall" during a rough stretch, while Michelle La Vita felt differently, she said.
"I kept trying to be positive," Michelle La Vita said. "I'm not complaining, because Destiny averaged over 13 minutes per game as a freshman and Shareta played whenever she wasn't in foul trouble and wanted to play ... but enough was enough ... and it was really time to go."
