Want to Make it at the D-I Level?
Alyssa Ustby shares her journey and a few key ingredients to her success
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Although Alyssa Ustby was not among the top 100 recruits in 2020, the 6-foot-1 forward made a strong impression right away upon arriving at the University of North Carolina. Now in her junior year, Ustby has racked up 22 career double-doubles and is currently averaging 13.6 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 2.0 steals per game. She also earned a spot on the USA Basketball 3×3 U23 team this past summer, has recently been named among the top 10 candidates for the Cheryl Miller Award—which recognizes the women’s college basketball’s best small forward—and is catching the attention of WNBA teams. There have been several critical pieces along the way that helped Ustby reach this level of play. These factors will not only continue to benefit her for the rest of her playing career, but they’ll likely benefit many other players who are looking to follow a similar path.
The right encouragement
On and off the court, Ustby exudes a relaxed confidence, which primarily stems from the positive messages and healthy competition she was exposed to from an early age. Starting in kindergarten, when Ustby would join her older brothers at the local YMCA for pickup basketball, her parents assured her she was tough enough to hang with the boys. And through the years, her family has repeatedly reinforced their belief in her, reminding Ustby she’s good enough to play with anyone whenever any doubt creeps in. When Ustby moved on from defending the elementary kid wearing the same-colored jersey band as her to playing for her middle school team, she recognized she had a more advanced skill set compared to many of her peers. While this allowed her confidence to grow even more, the values her family instilled also made her want to encourage her teammates to catch up. And her goal to help others improve created an almost spiral-like positive culture of girls trying to teach each other new things and constantly build each other up.
“Even when matching up against my teammates in one-on-one, it wasn’t about proving you were better,” Ustby said. “It was about pushing each other to improve while having fun.”
Playing other sports
As a standout three-sport athlete all throughout high school, Ustby attributes a lot of her strength, footwork, balance, and hand-eye coordination to playing multiple sports. Although Ustby started lifting weights around seventh grade, she didn’t start using a formal trainer until after she committed to the University of North Carolina. Instead, she leveraged the cross-training she received through soccer and softball. She also noted the importance of not playing or training every single day, rather believing a little time off from basketball, especially during the off-season, actually helped and allowed her to come back to the sport reinvigorated and more focused on what she needed to do to get better.
It wasn’t always easy, though. Practices would sometimes clash, and tournament weekends would occasionally overlap or conflict. One weekend, Ustby played basketball wearing her softball eye black so she could go back and forth between the sporting events more quickly. She also recalls how her scheduling conflicts would sometimes miff a couple of her coaches—and she understands why—but her family supported her desire to keep playing each sport and assured her it was an adult issue she didn’t need to deal with.
“My dad promised me he would handle it,” Ustby said. “He told me if any coach made a comment to just brush it off. He did a great job of taking care of that, so I didn’t have to get involved with adult decisions. My dad, he’s the man.”
Passion, relentlessness, and hard work
Ustby’s competitiveness, drive, and work ethic were developed in her driveway when she matched up against her older brothers and still continue to this day. As does the desire to chase down that rebound, the persistence for not settling for the weaker shot, and the willingness to put in all the extra hours to improve.
Ustby’s philosophy is simple. “If somebody’s going to beat me for a position, they’re going to have to work really, really hard. And if they can outwork me, I was like, ‘I’ll be okay with that.’”
Ustby wasn’t oblivious to the fact that she would be facing stiff competition once she got to North Carolina. But she took advantage of her flexible schedule during the spring of 2020 due to the COVID-19 quarantine, and pushed herself harder than ever to get better. Working out twice a day and keeping herself accountable with tally marks on a whiteboard, she put in hours upon hours to improve her basketball skills and conditioning. Once she got to campus, she quickly realized all that hard work paid off. She was one of the most physically-prepared girls on her team and passed all the fitness and strength tests that other girls who were competing for the same spot failed.
Though she doesn’t believe she’s the most skilled player on her team, Ustby prides herself on playing tough defense and being relentless on the boards. And she still brings out a whiteboard to write down the stats she wants to improve as motivation. She’s almost always staying after practice to get extra shots up or work on another skill she’s trying to develop, and she prioritizes fueling her body correctly and trying to get to bed as soon as possible, which she believes sets great players apart.
Sacrifice
The time Ustby has put into bettering herself at the sport is remarkable, but the sacrifice hasn’t just been hers. In high school, Ustby played for the MN Fury AAU team, which is more than an hour and a half from where she lived. So in addition to traveling to tournaments—sometimes plane rides away—her dad would drive her to practices multiple times a week, often not returning back home until after midnight. He’d help her with her homework on the way there, let her sleep on the way home, and bring his laptop and take work calls in between. Even though her parents sometimes questioned the time commitment or investment they were putting into the sport, they made it work.
Ustby is incredibly grateful. She is still amazed by the hoops her parents frequently go through to watch some of her games, but the gratitude in her voice is loud and clear when she talks about her dad telling her he doesn’t want to miss out on watching her play.
“That’s the same mentality he had when I was growing up,” Ustby said. “He just enjoyed it so much and so that gave me the freedom to just explore all these opportunities.”
These days, the sacrifice lands much more on Ustby. When asked how she manages school, basketball, and having a social life, she begins by saying, “It’s the most insane thing I’ve ever done in my life.” Then she goes on to recap a recent day. Classes were from 8:00-12:15, then she grabbed a pre-packaged lunch and changed for practice. After that, she reviewed film with her team for about 45 minutes, followed by about an hour in the weight room and then a two-hour practice. That day, she skipped treatment time to get extra shots up, grabbed a post-practice meal on her way back home, showered, and then finally started her homework. She adds that when the team has an away game, she misses a few classes and is often trying to catch up. When asked to confirm whether she has a social life, Ustby responds with a smile, “Zero.”
Supportive coaches and great teammates
Rather than a robust social life, Ustby has learned it works better to surround herself with great coaches and teammates. Ustby has a ton of appreciation for everyone who has helped her get better along the way. She raved about her MN Fury AAU coach who often stayed after practice with her to work on more drills or get extra shots up, and she credits him with teaching her a lot of the baseline skill work that she’s been able to build on now. Similarly, Ustby can’t say enough good things about her current coaches at North Carolina. She really appreciates how they view her as a whole person, rather than just as stats or an athletic performance, and she’s grateful for all of their pointers and the time they put in to help her keep improving. Ustby also gave a huge shout-out to her team managers, who she declares are the “best people in the entire world” because they rebound for her or play one-on-one with her any time of the day.
In addition to her coaches, Ustby credits her teammates for sometimes being the only thing that helps Ustby hold it together or get her through the tougher days. She clicked with them immediately and loves spending time with them even when what they’re doing isn’t their favorite.
“We may be doing things that are not always enjoyable,” Ustby admits, “like conditioning or getting yelled at for doing plays wrong. But we’re doing it together. And there’s nothing like that bond. So no matter what we’re going through, we’re always having a good time, always laughing.”
A little bit of luck and staying in the moment
Growing up in the smaller city of Rochester, Minn., Ustby wasn’t even aware of AAU basketball until seventh grade when one of her friendly competitors posted about an upcoming tryout on her Instagram account. After convincing her dad it wasn’t a scam, Ustby’s talent and hard work allowed her to make that team and eventually advance to a more elite team that played a more competitive circuit, helping her attract the attention of more coaches.
However, if it wasn’t for Princeton’s women’s basketball head coach taking the open position at the University of North Carolina, who knows where Ustby might be. While being recruited for the Tigers, Ustby developed a great connection with then-head coach Courtney Banghart. But without the same scholarship opportunities available, Ustby’s family decided to rule out any Ivy League schools interested in her. As fate would have it, though, not long after that family decision, Ustby’s AAU coach shared a tweet stating that Banghart was headed to Chapel Hill and quickly reached out to see if Banghart would still be interested in Ustby as a Tar Heel. It didn’t take more than a day for Banghart to reply with a definitive yes.
To this day, Ustby believes in staying the course, continuing to put in the work, and allowing things to work themselves out, and she doesn’t plan to change that mindset anytime soon. When asked about what she’s considering in terms of life after college and the potential to play in the WNBA, Ustby didn’t believe it would be beneficial to think too far ahead.
“First of all, it doesn’t even seem real,” Ustby said. “I just want to focus on the present moment. I would be more than happy to play many more years of basketball. But if it doesn’t work out, I wouldn’t be upset either. I’m just kind of at peace with however my career turns out. But I’m just going to give it all I got day after day and just see where that takes me.”
No matter where she ends up, though, Ustby will no doubt be putting forth her best effort, being a great teammate or colleague, trying to have fun, and being eternally grateful. When asked to think back on her journey and provide any final words of advice, her face lights up almost in awe, and the tone of utter appreciation for all the opportunities she’s earned is unmistakable as she shakes her head.
“I would say whatever you’re doing, just have fun. You’re with your friends, and it’s the best time ever. I am so blessed.”
Thanks for reading the Her Hoop Stats Newsletter. If you like our work, be sure to check out our stats site, our podcast, and our social media accounts on Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.