Jaycie Christopher spent the summer of 2025 feeling like a failure.
The Skowhegan, Maine, native dreamed of playing Division 1 basketball since fifth grade. She wrote down two goals — to go Div. 1 and win a state championship — and saw them every day on her bedroom wall. Christopher, the 2022 Maine Gatorade Player of the Year, achieved that dream when she signed to play for the University of Maine.
But three years into college, her confidence had eroded. Christopher had talked with her Maine coaches and her team's sports psychologist, desperate to restore her on-court spark. After her junior year ended, she spent 16 hours in the car with her dad, Jon, during a golf trip to Myrtle Beach, processing the season. Eventually, Christopher chose to transfer out of Div. 1 entirely.
"Deciding to leave Maine was the hardest decision I've ever made," she said. "Obviously, it was a dream of mine since I was a kid to wear Maine across my chest and play there. It's really hard to step away from basically your dream, because my thought process when I was doing that is: Am I letting the little kid down that wanted to go play Div. 1?"
