Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

Scoreboard

Moncrease Scholar

Women's Basketball Sam Brief

Cougar Scholars: Leilani Moncrease

Chicago State senior opens up on pursuit of genetic counseling

Cougar Scholars is a monthly series highlighting Chicago State student-athletes through the lens of their studies and professional pursuits. First up is women's basketball senior Leilani Moncrease.

Leilani Moncrease's older sister, Janet Cage, was born with holoprosencephaly, a startlingly rare genetic condition affecting only one in 20,000 people.

Janet tragically passed away as an eight-year-old, when Moncrease was three. 

"The genetic counselors were on top of it, helping my mom," Moncrease said. "They were able to identify it while she was pregnant. They gave her different resources for a difficult pregnancy and raising her, which wasn't easy."

The genetic counselors left an indelible impact on Moncrease's mother, Darlene Moore, and the family.

"They walked her through it all," Moncrease said. "They helped her with medications, offering counseling. That's what they do, help people who are trying to get pregnant, who are pregnant or who have children with genetic conditions."

Inspired by the counselors' aid, Moncrease is studying biology through Chicago State's Individualized Curriculum Program. She plans to pursue a career as a genetic counselor.

"My mom was happy about it," Moncrease said. "She said, 'This is good for you. I could see you doing this job.'"

Moncrease, now a senior, has shifted gears from her initial studies. She started her college career at Diablo Valley College in California in general studies.

"When I came out of high school, I liked math and science," Moncrease said. "I said, 'You know what? I'm going to be a mathematician.' But they said I had to be there three years, so that didn't work.

"Then, I thought, 'How about business?' That's what my mom does. But I took one business class, and it wasn't for me."

Moncrease then pivoted briefly to communications before settling on attacking her current dream.

"I finally said, 'OK, I'm going to do science,'" Moncrease said. "And I found something career-wise that focuses on genes."

This semester, Moncrease is enrolled in classes on zoology, botany, statistics and sociology.

"Chicago State for me is a team where I'm able to achieve my goals, both on the court and in my academic pursuits," Moncrease said.

Upon graduation from Chicago State, she plans to seek and entrench herself in a graduate program for genetic counseling.

Throughout the Cougar Scholars series, we'll ask each scholar to identify something about their field that outsiders might not know.

Moncrease delivered a fact that may inspire a toothbrushing session.

"There can be more bacteria in a human mouth than there are people in the world," Moncrease said. "There's a reason we brush our teeth twice a day."
Print Friendly Version