Driven to Succeed

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The reminder is with her every time she steps on the court.

When Ahnay Adams looks down at her jersey and sees that No. 5, she can’t help but think of her family, of her hometown, of the friends she lost, and of all that she overcame to now find herself playing college basketball at the highest level for the University of Miami.

“A lot of stuff went down at 5 Morgan Terrace, and I feel like the stuff that happened during those times just shaped me and allowed me to be the human being that I am,” said Adams, a sophomore guard for the Hurricanes, who will open play in the ACC Tournament on Wednesday against Stanford. “It allowed me to have the type of drive and determination to be able to flip a switch during certain situations because of the things I experienced at such a young age. But it’s shaped me into who I am, and when I look at the No. 5, it allows me to be grounded and to remember my background and where I came from.”

Adams hails from New Bedford, Mass., where she endured a childhood she herself describes as “rough” with a “family dynamic that wasn’t the best.”

Her father was incarcerated until she was five years old. Her mother, who now has a master’s degree and supports patients working to overcome substance abuse, battled some demons of her own.

Adams was shot at while in her grandmother’s home and watched far too many of her friends become statistics, something that fueled her in her drive to do better.

And so, sports quickly became Adams’ refuge.

She’d follow her older brother to a nearby park to play pick-up basketball. Eventually, she started playing football because of him, too.

But when the boys she competed against got bigger and stronger, her mother told her it was time to focus on something a little safer and Adams found her way back onto the court.

As a fourth grader, she began playing basketball at the local Boys and Girls Club, where it didn’t take long for competitors and spectators alike to notice her skills and natural ability.

She eventually began working with Massachusetts basketball trainer Brian Rudolph and before long, Adams was playing on the AAU circuit. Her hometown newspaper even profiled her as a middle schooler.

Despite all her success on the court, though, Adams struggled elsewhere. She concedes she got herself into more than a little bit of trouble as a middle schooler, and her family – particularly her mother and her aunt – pushed for her to leave New Bedford for high school.

Their solution? A boarding school in New Hampshire.

Adams was none too happy about the idea.

“I tried to fail my [Secondary School Admission Test] so that I could stay home, but they took me anyway,” Adams said with a smile. “It was such a blessing.”

At the Tilton School, Adams thrived.

Three straight years she was named the Gatorade New Hampshire Player of the Year. She averaged 21.4 points, 6.7 assists, 6.4 rebounds and 4.1 steals as a junior, which helped her earn New Hampshire Player of the Year honors from MaxPreps and even before the start of her senior year, she eclipsed the 1,000-point mark for her high school career.

She was rated the No. 37 overall player in the country by ESPNW Hoop Gurlz, and colleges from across the country, including Miami, took note.

“I thought she was a player that was going to elevate the program on and off the court,” said Miami associate head coach Fitzroy Anthony, who recruited Adams with former head coach Katie Meier. “Once she signed and committed to the program, I did a school visit with her and she had in her dorm, her goals and things she needed to work on. … She had those goals on her bedroom door and her walls. We knew we were going to get a kid that was going to be driven, that was going to push the coaching staff to be better and was going to push other players to be better. She was always going to push herself to be better.”

While Meier made the decision to retire before Adams arrived in Coral Gables, the guard opted to honor her commitment to the Hurricanes and joined head coach Tricia Cullop’s program last season.

Making the transition to college basketball wasn’t easy.

Adams admits there were tough days. She had to get to know her new teammates and a new coaching staff. She had to adapt to a tougher level of competition, particularly in the ACC. She had to get used to facing older and more experienced opponents.

But she did her best to push forward.

“It was so hard, mentally,” Adams said. “A lot of people were telling me it’s a mental game, that your talent and your hard work can only take you so far, and that it becomes mentally challenging. I didn’t believe them, but it definitely is. It’s so much more detail-oriented than just going to high school and playing high school ball. … The ACC is next level. You’re playing with grown women. So, just being able to adjust and just having faith in my big support system with my family and stuff really helped me.”

Adams appeared in all 29 of Miami’s games last season, making her first start in the Hurricanes’ season opener. She scored 10 points that day and went on to notch three more double-digit performances as a freshman.

Her numbers weren’t particularly flashy – she averaged 3.7 points and 2.2 rebounds per game – but by season’s end, she had grown comfortable in Cullop’s system and this season, she’s brought all the knowledge she gained with her to her sophomore campaign.

As the Hurricanes (16-13) prepare to begin play in the ACC Tournament, Adams has started all 29 of Miami’s games. She’s averaging 8.8 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists and has grown into her role as one of Miami’s more vocal leaders and team captains.

“She’s a joy to coach. She’s an old soul in a young body. She’s very mature for her age and she handles very difficult situations like a champ,” Cullop said. “I think from Day One, what I saw was a winner. Some people see problems and other people will see solutions. Ahnay is always someone that is trying to find the best way to do everything. She’s not afraid to roll up her sleeves and work hard. She’s in the gym consistently. She’s spending time with her teammates. She’s always seeing the bright side of what can happen and I just really appreciate her work ethic, her positive attitude, her energy and her willingness to do whatever the team needs to do to win.”

Now, for the first time, Adams will bring her game to the postseason.

The Hurricanes head into the ACC Tournament having won four of their last five games and are hoping to put together a deep run in Duluth, Ga.

Their first challenge comes Wednesday morning against a Stanford team that enters the tournament with a 19-12 record and Adams knows she’ll be called on to be at her best to keep Miami’s season going as long as possible.

It’s a challenge she’s embracing, another opportunity to prove the kind of player and person she is.

It’s another chance, too, for her to prove she isn’t defined by her past, but to show what a difference hard work – and a strong support system – can make.

“Every time somebody asks me about it, I want [my story] to inspire them and I want them to understand they don’t have to be a story. They don’t have to be a statistic,” Adams said. “You make your choices, right? People say you make your bed, so now you’ve got to lay in it, right? It’s your choice whether or not you want to go that route. Just because you grew up in a situation doesn’t mean that has to be your situation. …

“Basketball is everything to me. … I’m just so glad God brought it to me.”