Yasmine Crawford and Julianne Brown have been teammates on the basketball court since they were 8 years old, and will continue that in college as the Bryan County High School standouts signed letters of intent Tuesday to play for Central Georgia Technical College.

“It makes me a lot less nervous,” Brown said. “It helps that I’ll be there with someone who knows me.”

Redskins Coach Mario Mincey said the pair have been part of the Bryan County program since they started coming to summer basketball camp in fifth grade.

“They are wonderful young ladies on and off the court,” he said. “And now they’ll be taking a little piece of Pembroke to Macon.”

Crawford said she “felt at home” visiting CGTC. She plans to study sports management, while Brown will study education.

“This means a lot,” Brown said. “It’s everything I’ve worked for. It’s why I spent hours in the gym.”

Bryan County went 24-5 this season and won the Region 2-AA title, reaching the Elite 8 in the state tournament. Brown was named all-state for the third consecutive year and was Region 2-AA Player of the Year. Brown finished her high school career with a school-record 1,671 points, while Crawford pulled down more than 1,000 rebounds for the Redskins.

The CGTC Titans went 12-19 overall and 4-10 in their conference this past season. Over the past few years, players have signed to continue their basketball careers at four-year schools such as South Carolina State University, Columbus State University, Kentucky State University, Indiana State University, Belmont Abbey College, Troy University and Wesleyan College.

Antonio Harris, head coach at CGTC, said he thinks Brown and Crawford can do the same.

“They have a wealth of potential,” he said. “They definitely have the talent to continue playing a four-year school.”

Harris said it is unusual to sign two players from the same school.

“It’s uncommon,” he said. “I was surprised that they both accepted. It’s a great day for the local community and for Central Georgia Tech.”