Lenee Beaumont has been around basketball about as long as she can remember.
Her dad, Mike, has coached in the boys program at Glenbard South for more than 20 years.
“As soon as I’d leave preschool, he’d have to take me to practice,” Beaumont said. “I’d be on the sideline, dribbling around and trying to shoot.”
All that practice has paid off in a big way. Today, Beaumont is a 6-foot point guard at Benet, heading into her senior season as one of the top players in the country. Ranked No. 81 in the class of 2023 by espnw/HoopGurlz, Beaumont is committed to Indiana.
Like a lot of athletes who played through the pandemic, Beaumont had an interesting trajectory in recruiting. She picked up her first Division I offer the summer before her freshman year, which was spent as a reserve learning from a talented upperclass group.
“I didn’t play too much on varsity as a freshman,” Beaumont said. “Our team was loaded.”
Indeed: the Redwings went 29-3, led by Division I recruits Brooke Schramek (Wisconsin), Kendall Moriarty (Nebraska) and Kendall Holmes (DePaul).
Those veterans’ mentorship proved invaluable, Beaumont said: “Brooke Schramek, we had a big sister-little sister thing.”
After the pandemic eased, interest in Beaumont increased. First came offers from smaller schools, then the ACC, SEC and other Power Five conferences came calling.
“I went on a bunch of visits. I was really planning on waiting it out through AAU,” Beaumont said of her commitment.
But after visiting Indiana and getting to know the program and coaches, the timeline changed.
“I don’t know why I’m waiting,” she recalled thinking. “I knew I wanted to go to Indiana. I loved them the first time I stepped on campus.”
The Hoosiers have been a power under coach Teri Moren, reaching the Elite Eight in 2021. Beaumont got a sneak peek into what to expect playing for Moren over the summer, when she took part in the USA Basketball Women’s U18 camp where the Hoosiers coach was an assistant.
All that is in the future. For now, Beaumont is focused on her senior season. Benet was fourth in Class 4A last season, winning the program’s fourth state trophy in six seasons while competing in a conference (the East Suburban Catholic) that also featured 3A champ Carmel and 3A runner-up Nazareth.
Beaumont wouldn’t have it any other way.
“There’s a lot of good teams, which makes it fun,” she said. “I live for the moments, the close games.”
Benet coach Joe Kilbride appreciates having Beaumont to call on in those matchups.
“She’s so skilled,” he said, noting her career 45% accuracy from three-point range. Plus, he added, “she’s done a really good job in the weight room.”
Kilbride expects Beaumont to take her game to another level by looking more for her own shot this season,
“She’s a very unselfish kid. We’re not asking her to jack 40 shots a game,” he said. “She does need to be more assertive.”
Beaumont is ready to do whatever’s needed.
“I’ve been trying to work on being a leader,” she said. “Going into this year I was really working on my confidence on the court. When I’m not playing well, I lose confidence. [But] I feel like I’m more confident now.”
