Ceanna “Cece” Kinney is a new face with a familiar surname on Virginia Union University’s campus.

The towering 6-foot-5 freshman from The Rivers School in Weston, Mass., grabbed a whopping 18 rebounds in her debut Nov. 12 with the Panthers.

“It was amazing to watch,” said VUU Lady Panthers Coach Tierra Terry.

In what was also Coach Terry’s debut at VUU, the Panthers lost 80-66 at Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania.

The team’s home opener is 5:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 19, against Chowan University.

Kinney’s rebound total sent statisticians reaching for the re- cord book. VUU’s school record of 27 was set by Lady Walker in 2016.

If the name Kinney rings a bell on Lombardy Street, it should. Kinney’s grandfather, Dr. John W. Kinney, is the former dean of the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at VUU.

Her father is Erron Kinney, who starred as a football tight end at Patrick Henry High School in Ashland, at the University of Florida and in the NFL with the Tennessee Titans from 2000 to 2005.

Coach Terry succeeds AnnMarie Gilbert as the VUU coach. Under Coach Gilbert, the Lady Panthers went 136-18 from 2016 to 2020, with five NCAA appearances.

VUU opted out of the 2020-21 basketball season because of the pandemic.

Absent from VUU’s roster are the dynamic twins Shareka and Shameka McNeill. The standout guards from Charlotte, N.C., have graduated, but with eligibility remaining. Shareka is now finishing her eligibility at North Carolina A&T State University, while Shameka is at Anderson University in South Carolina.