Green Street New opportunities

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Welcome to “Green Street,” your dose of women’s college basketball news from Illini beat writer and AP Top 25 voter Joe Vozzelli. He’ll offer up insight on Shauna Green’s Illini team and the women’s game at large every week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Genesis Bryant has been busy since her college basketball career finished up in late March after Illinois lost in the second round of the NCAA tournament to Texas.

First came the chance to serve as host of April’s The Oskees. Now, the former Illini will have a chance to continue her pursuit of a potential career in sports journalism.

Bryant, who now holds two Illinois degrees — a master’s degree in management from Illinois’ Gies College of Business and an undergraduate degree in communication — worked as a color analyst last season for two Illini men’s basketball games on BTN Plus.

And Bryant is set to participate in a BTN Experience seminar on June 23-26 at the BTN Studios in Chicago. The seminar is for former student-athletes “interested in pursuing sports media opportunities in the areas of studio analyst, game commentator, and/or social media personality.”

Bryant, who is one of 16 ex-Big Ten athletes scheduled to take part in the seminar, already spoke with The News-Gazette about the chance to work as a color commentator on basketball broadcasts this past winter.

“I’m very blessed to be able to do that,” Bryant said. “Just being able to get that hands-on experience. It’s one thing shadowing and seeing it from afar, but actually being in it, being behind the seat, having the headphones on just everything you see that goes into play with that made me have more of an appreciation for what those people do and also realize this is what I really want to do. I feel comfortable in it. I feel like it’s my element. I feel like the more I do, I’m going to get more comfortable.

“Being out there, I thought I was going to be nervous, but I felt like I’m just talking about the game. This is what I do naturally whenever I’m watching games, so just doing what I already feel like I’m gifted to do … I just feel like all of that kind of fits in with me.”