As introductions to the professional game go, Sam Ashby’s has been pretty incredible.
In her first full season as a professional with Leicester Riders, she’s made her debut for the British National Team and won Molten Player of the Month honours in the Women’s League. This week signifies another major milestone as she takes a starting position in the first Women’s All-Star Game in the League’s history.
We sat down with the 22-year-old recently to talk through her debut professional campaign so far, and why it has surpassed all expectations for the Leicester Riders guard.
“I couldn’t have dreamt of anything better than the past few months,” the Australia native Ashby said.
“I didn’t really have any expectations for this season because in my first year out of college, I didn’t expect too much to happen and saw it more as a year for me to develop and find my feet.
“With that in mind, the way that the past few months have gone has been really great. From winning Player of the Month to making my debut for GB, and now being an All-Star, I’m really blessed to have had all of this happen in just a few months and I’m very thankful.
“I’ve never been in an All-Star Game at any level and didn’t know there was going to be one here when I signed, but it was a nice surprise and even more of a surprise to get the amount of votes that I did to be honest – I wasn’t that confident at all.
“I was checking the votes every week though and as soon as voting opened I put it out there to my friends and family and everybody I knew to try and get me some more votes. Then, after a week, I saw I was leading all the guards and thought I had a good chance.”
Trailblazing from down under
The first professional athlete in her family, Ashby was born in London but has also lived in Singapore and currently resides in Perth with her family in the off-season – where she and her parents moved when Sam was a child.
From being taken to her first basketball practice out of the blue as a nine-year-old, the 5’9” sharpshooter played several other sports as a child and carried those skills onto the hardwood. She achieved several school and college records and made the jump to the professional game, where she has proven herself to be a sharpshooter in her rookie season.
Reflecting on her journey to date, Ashby said:
“My best friend’s mum just showed up at my house one day and told me that she was taking us to basketball practice to try it out, and from that first day, I fell in love with it.
“My parents weren’t athletes or anything, but they did make sure we were as active as possible growing up and had me playing a bunch of different sports, which had its advantages because when I started basketball I already had good athleticism and built my identity as a scorer after that.
“When we first moved to Australia I was 11 years old. I tried out for a team that was much better than what I had experienced before and I actually made it onto the roster, so that was when I realised I must have been OK at basketball and that this could maybe go somewhere.
“I started to achieve some big things in college and they were huge moments for me, which really pushed me to keep going and believe in what I could achieve. I didn’t reflect on them a lot or appreciate them as much as I should have, and should do more of, but I’m always focused on the next goal.”
Reunited and it’ll feel so good
Reflecting on her Great Britain experience as a career highlight to date, Ashby will line-up this weekend next to two players she shared her debut National Team camp with – London Lions duo Temi Fagbenle and Savannah Wilkinson.
Fagbenle is captain of the National Team and Wilkinson, like Ashby, is one of the country’s top prospects for the future. The Riders guard discussed how excited she is to share the hardwood with the Lions duo again and why they both have made such an impact on her.
“I am really looking forward to playing with Temi and Savannah again. When I first showed up at GB in November I didn’t really know anyone but both of them were really lovely to me and they’re big role models that I look up to. They’ve inspired me to want play with them again and be a better player when I am with them.
“Temi is the GB captain and will be captain of the All-Star South team this weekend, of course. She’s an incredible player who gives 100% all the time, whether in practices or in games, and she pushes others to want to do the same. She won’t settle for anything less and I’ve got huge respect for her because she’s always trying to be better herself and make others better.
“No matter who you are, even if she doesn’t really know you, she’s the sort of person that if you reach out then she’d be happy to give advice or to help because she’s said herself before that she didn’t always have those outlets. She’s trying to be that kind of role model for other players coming up, and she’s doing a great job in that sense for sure.
“I expect it’ll be a competitive game. If it comes down to it I feel like we have the stronger team, but whatever happens I’m sure it’ll be a great experience and it’s exciting to have this platform for the first year and we can only grow from here in the future.”
Get your tickets to support Sam and all of the players in the first-ever Women’s British Basketball League All-Star Game this weekend at the Copper Box by clicking here.