Brooklynn Renn stands 6-foot-3, has great length and high basketball IQ, can run the floor, pass, post up and shoot the 3, rebound, defend multiple positions and block shots with the best.
Simply put, she is a nightmare mismatch for opponents.
Scott Schoen, her coach at Silver Creek High School in Sellersburg, Indiana, who has known Renn since she was age 4 and resigned in April after 16 years as the winningest coach in school history, believes his protege — a four-star Kansas women’s basketball signee — still hasn’t reached her ceiling.
Renn was a four-year star in both volleyball and basketball at Silver Creek, and Schoen says her complete commitment to hoops at KU will cause her skills to skyrocket.
“To really spend year-round in a sport,” said Schoen, “when she gets to Kansas and people are able to get their hands on her and it’s just strictly basketball, I don’t think we’ve seen the best Brooklynn Renn. You’re going to see her game blossom because she’s going to have the time and resources, spending tons of time on her skills and her skills are already great. Her skill set is remarkable. We’ve had a ton of talented kids come through this program, but she is the best player I’ve ever coached.”
And yet her game is still “just going to blow up at KU,” he said.
“I don’t know even what that means,” he added. “I just know that (her) upside is tremendous. … I think she could have been a UConn kid, she could have been an LSU kid. I really do think that’s who Kansas is getting, the kid has that potential.”
Hearing Schoen rave about Renn, the No. 74 player in the 2026 class at 247Sports and No. 4 player in Indiana, she certainly took a backseat to few people in high school. She had a banner prep career, winning three straight Mid-Southern Conference championships and finishing her senior year leading the Lady Dragons to the 3A sectional championship. She averaged 21 points, 11.5 rebounds, 1.6 blocks, 3.2 assists and 1.7 steals per game.
Renn ranks No. 1 all time at SCHS in rebounds (1,002) and blocks (283), while No. 3 in career scoring (1,556) and No. 6 in steals (161). She likely would be the school’s all-time leading scorer if not for missing six games with a foot injury her junior season.
Renn, who posted four triple-doubles in her career, set a single-season school record with 99 blocks her sophomore year, including a record-setting 10-block performance against Gibson Southern in December 2023.
She was named first-team all-state, first-team academic all-state (4.0 cumulative GPA) and an Indiana All-Star this season, just one of four ever from Silver Creek.
Renn, an oldest child with two younger brothers, follows a long line of family standouts who starred at Silver Creek, including her dad, Josh (inducted into the Brescia University Hall of Fame), uncle Matt (enshrined in the Indiana State Athletics Hall of Fame), cousin Trey Kaufman-Renn, an NBA prospect who just ended a remarkable career at Purdue, aunt Lara Renn (Trey’s mom), who is the all-time steals leader, and grandfather Tom Renn, who also played at Bethel College. Renn’s brother Evan will be a junior basketball player at SCHS.
Renn, whose grandparents taught at Silver Creek, is extremely proud to follow in her great family tradition. Her mom, Candace, too, played basketball at Brescia University, while grandfathers Larry Richmer played at IU Southeast and Richard Howell at Western Kentucky, respectively. Cousin Bryce Renn will be a freshman player for Evansville this season.
“I think my family really paved the way for me,” she said on a recent evening after a session with her personal trainer, while taking a break at her home from studying for final exams. “I feel so prepared going to Kansas just because we’ve played against each other. I always have someone to scrimmage against or mentor. After games, we’ll call each other and tell each other how we did, what we could do better. That’s with everyone in my family. We really support each other a lot.”
Renn believes she was born to hoop with her family’s basketball bloodlines.
“I feel like once I was born, I had a basketball in my hands,” Renn said. “I played really young, and my parents pushed me into developing me into the great player I am.”
Confident yet humble, Renn’s hoop dreams began when she was age 4, playing basketball with teammate and dear friend Emma Schoen (Scott’s daughter who’s attending Richmond this year on a basketball scholarship), whom Renn attended birthday parties with every year. Renn views Scott as “kind of like my second dad, just growing up at his house, so it’s really special.”
She remembers winning championships at an early age, while also playing one-on-one with Kaufman-Renn and five-on-five games with her cousins at her grandmother’s house in the backyard. After she joined coach Natalie Morse’s AAU team Indiana Girls Basketball the summer before her freshman season of high school, Renn’s talents attracted college recruiters. Renn, who began signing autographs in middle school, received her first scholarship offer from Ball State.
Schoen laughed that Renn’s “been recruited ever since she came out of the womb. As soon as (Candace) found out she was pregnant, I think she got her first offer from somebody, which is not fair all the time when you have those expectations.”
The following summer after her sophomore year, power conferences came calling. Renn, who received 22 scholarship offers, ultimately took official visits to Kansas, West Virginia, Marquette and Cal. She narrowed her final two colleges to WVU and KU (the Jayhawks offered her on July 24, 2025), and took a recruiting visit to Lawrence the weekend of Sept. 26 last year.
“My experience was amazing,” said Renn, who idolizes Houston Rockets superstar Kevin Durant. “The girls were great. As soon as I came there, I told my mom, ‘I feel like I’m already on the team.’ They took me in very early and just had great personalities and then coach (Brandon) Schneider, just our values really matched and how we saw the game. I know he can really develop me, so I’m excited to see that.”
Renn called Schneider a few days later on Sept. 30 and told him she was coming to Kansas, just before her family went on a cruise.
“I think he yelled through the phone and got Pat (assistant coach Patrick Schrater) and one of the other assistant coaches so it was very special,” Renn recalled. “We kind of joked with each other. He’s like, ‘I’m going to have to send you some Kansas gear to wear on the cruise.'”
After officially signing with KU on Nov. 12, Renn focused her attention on her senior year after Silver Creek had gone 22-3 last season, including tying a school record with 16 straight wins. SCHS (19-6) won 10 of its last 12 games this season, including a 54-42 victory over rival Charlestown in the sectional semifinal and star 6-foot-1 junior post player Chesney Jackson.
Schoen gave his phenom a pregame pep talk: “‘They think she’s D-I, you show her what D-I looks like.’ She just dominated her,” scoring 12 of Silver Creek’s 14 points in the first quarter with a game-high 25 points, while holding Jackson to just nine points (compared to 21.3 points per game on the season).
“To watch her step her game up,” Schoen said, “that’s just who she is. The bigger the stakes, the better she plays.”
No. 2 Silver Creek, which played the 23rd toughest schedule in the state, next beat Madison, 62-51, for the sectional title on Feb. 7 and cut down the nets. Renn, who had 20 points and 11 rebounds, calls the victory the defining moment of her career.
“Having to battle through that (4A freshman and sophomore years before moving back to 3A last two seasons) and losing the tough one last year (Corydon Central in the sectional championship) really put a chip on our shoulders this year,” Renn said. “To win made it even more great.”
Silver Creek’s season ended in the next game against fellow KU signee Mollie Ernstes and Jennings County, 62-51, in the regional championship. Despite her career concluding, Renn held her head high knowing “my whole high school career has really been amazing. Not only my achievements, but the relationships and bonds that I’ve built are really important to me because I can take those past the game of basketball.”
Renn and Ernstes, good friends who have played in several all-star games together, including the Hoosier Gym All-Star Classic on April 25, will be roommates this year at Stouffer Place.
“She said that she was ready to be at Kansas with me and getting those practices started,” Ernstes recalled of her conversation with Renn after the regional title game.
Ernstes has great admiration for her future teammate.
“She’s a great post player,” Ernstes said. “You can tell she’s working on guard parts of her game, and it’s really showing on the court. She’s a great player, better person. We’ve talked a lot since she committed. I’m super excited to play with her.”
Schoen knows Kansas is getting a great leader, a fierce competitor who is driven to be the best and take KU’s culture to a new level as an “ambassador” with her strong character, selflessness and winning mentality.
“Leadership-wise, she’s a no-nonsense type of kid,” Schoen said. “She knows you care about her and you’re going to pour into her, she’s going to run through a freaking wall for you.”
With Renn ending high school with commencement on Sunday and then competing in the Indiana Junior-Senior All-Star Game on June 3 against the Kentucky All-Stars on June 5 and 6, she’ll soon land in Lawrence for her next basketball journey. Renn, who plans on studying business leadership at KU with ambitions to play in the WNBA and start her own business, envisions her own shining March moment just like Kaufman-Renn, who Brooklynn called her “best friend growing up (still is)” and “my protector,” had at Purdue this season with a tip-in with 0.7 seconds remaining in the Sweet 16, lifting Purdue over Texas, 79-77.
“We were all so proud of him … (It) was amazing,” said Renn, who envisions her own similar tip-in or a game-winning block in March Madness.
Renn has high hopes for the Jayhawks winning a national championship.
“Especially with this group of girls,” Renn said, “I think we can really get there. Honestly, a dream.”
With hoops her main focus now without volleyball, Renn dreams of leaving a mark at Kansas and showing the national scouts and women’s college basketball blue bloods who overlooked her potential and dynamic skills.
“I think I can make a really big impact with Brandon’s development and just his vision with me there,” Renn said. “I think I can really do something special … I don’t think they’ve seen the best of me yet. I can’t wait to prove them (wrong).”
Schoen firmly believes KU has a multidimensional stretch forward who can play with the premier players in the country.
“I’m a huge fan of Brooklynn,” Schoen said. “I’ve coached AAU at high levels. I’ve seen the best of the best and I feel Brooklynn is right there with those cats. We played against kids who are getting recruited by UConn … She’s played against greats and always performed against greats.
“She’s one of the generational players. I’ve been very blessed to be able to coach her.”
Brooklynn Renn of Silver Creek High School poses for a photo with the 3A sectional trophy after beating Madison on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026, in Charlestown, Ind.
Brooklynn Renn, third from left, poses with family members in this undated photo. At left is recent Purdue standout Trey Kaufman-Renn, her cousin.
Contributed photo
Contributed photo