Austin Prep girls basketball has recently been known as home to Fope Ayo, a 6-foot-5 post player and consensus top-50 prospect in the country. Head coach Ushearnda Stroud and her team are eager to make Ayo's senior season count.
To do so, they’ll have to get over the hump they’ve grappled with for the past three seasons since joining NEPSAC.
Austin Prep moved up to NEPSAC Class AA last winter and went 16-9, with notable victories highlighted by a Jan. 15 home win against Wilbraham & Monson. But after losing as a No. 6 seed in the NEPSAC quarterfinals to those same third-seeded Titans, they must prove that they're not only capable of playing with the league’s best teams — but that they can consistently beat them.
With Ayo, plus standout supporting pieces — namely guards Tiffany Burns and Ruby Thompson — Austin Prep thinks it's ready to contend for a title.
“We’re so locked in on our main goal — which is just straight up winning — that our next step is the championship,” Burns said. “We got to the playoffs, we were a more than .500 team — like, that was what we wanted. Now, that next hump is championships.”
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