Jence Rhoads' summer has been, well, almost a normal one.

When the snow was still flying, Rhoads' life was anything but mundane.

Back then, Rhoads was the talk of the small town of Slippery Rock. The senior was leading the high school girls basketball team to within a breath of the state championship game with her shooting, dribbling and passing.

That effort helped Rhoads pile up more postseason accolades than knots in a hoop's net.

She won her third Butler Eagle Girls Basketball Player of the Year Award, as well as the Gatorade and Associated Press Player of the Year awards in Pennsylvania.

"I don't think so much about the individual accomplishments as I do about the team stuff," Rhoads said. "I think about playing with my sisters, playing for Coach (Adrienne) Orris and all the support we got from our fans."

This has been a different kind of summer for Rhoads. In the past,Rhoads could be found playing for the Rock Solid AAU team in national tournaments. This year, she is resigned to watching her younger twin sisters, Karly and Kourtney, play for the same team.

Instead,Rhoads did the typical summer things an 18-year-old high school graduate does before she heads off to college: she's hit the beach and vacationed in New York City, sitting a mere jump shot away from Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez in Yankee Stadium.

But Rhoads didn't score 2,171 points in her Slippery Rock career without a certain work ethic. She still spends hours in the gym working on her game.

Things will change for Rhoads Monday when she steps onto the Vanderbilt University campus for the first time as a student athlete.

Rhoads is taking two summer classes and will get a first-hand taste of life at a Division I women's basketball program not long after she settles into her dorm.

She's already started.

Shortly after the high school basketball season ended,Rhoads received a workout routine from the Commodores coaching staff.

It included detailed running and weightlifting regimes that have kept Rhoads busy.

"I got this workout book (from Vanderbilt), and it had to be an inch thick," Rhoads said.

During her high school career, she barely touched a weight. In fact, on the first day of her weightlifting workout, she had no idea how to do some of the lifts.

"Luckily, I was still in school and there were some boys in the weight room," Rhoads said. "They helped me out."

Rhoads said the weightlifting already has paid dividends — she feels stronger. That's a good feeling to have as she prepares for life in the rough-and-tumble Southeastern Conference.

Last year, Vanderbilt went 28-6 and Rhoads will be in the unfamiliar position of fighting for playing time.

"I'm trying not to put too much pressure on myself," Rhoads said. "I just want to go in, work hard, and try to impress the coaches."

This week hasn't gone without its perks. In anticipation of her leaving the nest, her parents, Posey and Melinda Rhoads, have allowed Jence to pick the dinner menu.

Last Monday it was enchiladas and Tuesday it was chicken and pasta salad.

This Monday, it will be dorm food seasoned with some reality.

"I've been thinking about how different my life is going to be," Rhoads said. "It's going to be new and exciting."