Arkansas State juniors Akasha Westbrook and Ashley Clayborn accomplished rare feats with close circles of teammates in high school. Now, as teammates in Jonesboro, they hope to do the same for the Red Wolves.
Westbrook won two consecutive Class 4A state championships with Malvern in 2013 and 2014. The starting lineup for the Lady Leopards featured three players now at Division I schools and a fourth, Alivia Huell, who plays for Ouachita Baptist in Division II.
"It was definitely an awesome experience," Westbrook said. "Not everybody gets that in high school. It was really good to share that with those people and that good group of girls.
"Sometimes, I joke with them and tell them, 'If we were that good then, what if we could go back to high school with the skills we have now?' That would have been really, really fun, but it was an awesome experience."
Clayborn starred for the Hot Springs Lady Trojans, along with Berniezha Tidwell and Tiaunna Watkins, and led the team in 2015 to its first state championship since 1998 with a 62-61 victory in overtime over Pulaski Academy at Bank of the Ozarks Arena. It was the final game for coach Mark Upshaw, who handed the team over to Josh Smith the following season and retired in 2016.
"It is always great to look back," Clayborn said. "We talk about it all of the time. We still stay in touch to this day. Those are my sisters. We definitely made some memories there and will always be alumni of Hot Springs."
Six of the seven stars for the two championship teams signed at one point or another for Division I teams. All have taken different routes to their current squads.
Clayborn signed with Tyler Junior College in Texas out of high school. She averaged 13 points, five rebounds and two assists as a freshman for Tyler when her team advanced to the semifinals of the National Junior College Athletic Association Region XIV tournament
Tyler was 48-15 in Clayborn's two years with the program. The team advanced to the Region XIV quarterfinals in her sophomore year before she transferred to Arkansas State.
Tidwell signed with Sam Houston State and later transferred to Highland Community College in Kansas. She has played in 28 games this season, including 27 off of the bench, and is second on the team in scoring with 15.5 point per game despite averaging fifth on the team in minutes.
The Scotties were ranked No. 3 in the most recent National Junior College Athletic Association Division II poll released Wednesday. They boast the classification's only remaining undefeated record at 30-0 and finished 8-0 in Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference play heading into the NJCAA Region VI Division II Tournament.
Watkins signed with John A. Logan College in Carterville, Ill. She transferred to Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia this season and redshirted.
"I wish that we could have played on the same team, to move and to be together," Clayborn said. "Regardless, I am proud of each and every one of them for still continuing, doing what they are doing and working hard."
Westbrook played in 11 games as a true freshman for the Red Wolves and 24 games as a sophomore before she took significant steps toward being a team leader for coach Brian Boyer in Jonesboro. She started the first eight games in her junior year and averaged 10.1 points, but she received a redshirt year after suffering a season-ending foot injury.
"I put in a lot of work in the gym and I tried to get my mobility back," Westbrook said. "Thankfully, I still have my athleticism."
Westbrook returned even stronger this season. She leads the team with 13.7 points in 32.1 minutes per game and is second on the team with 5.3 rebounds per game. She ranks seventh in the Sun Belt Conference with a field goal percentage of 48.4, eighth in scoring and 16th in rebounding.
"I try to focus on staying healthy," Westbrook said. "If it hurts a little bit, then I will get treatment after, but, during the game, I try not to focus on it."
Tiffany Murdock, one of Westbrook's teammates from Malvern, was in attendance on Jan. 20 when the Red Wolves traveled to face the Little Rock Trojans at the Jack Stephens Center. Murdock played her first two years at Paris Junior College Texas, including 31 games in her sophomore year, before transferring to Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
Murdock played in 19 of Pine Bluff's 30 games last year and started in eight of the last nine games of the season. She has played in 21 of the team's 26 games this season.
Pine Bluff played Monday at Jackson State before closing out the season Saturday at home against Mississippi Valley State in the final game of the regular season for the Southwestern Athletic Conference. The 2018 SWAC women's tournament will be held next week in Houston.
Westbrook said Huell hoped to be able to attend the Jan. 20 game in Little Rock, but she was with the Ouachita Baptist Tigers on the road in Russellville the same day for a game against Arkansas Tech. Huell was the Class 4A Most Valuable Player in 2014 and signed with Arkansas-Little Rock.
Huell transferred to Ouachita after two seasons and played 28 games in her first year with the Tigers. She ranked sixth on the team in scoring this year with 7.9 points per game and was fourth in total minutes as a redshirt junior.
The Tigers finished the regular season sixth in the Great American Conference and will play Friday at 8 p.m. in Bartlesville, Okla., in the first round of the GAC Tournament. They are matched up with the No. 3 seed, rival Henderson State.
Raven Northcross-Baker averaged 27 points on the 2014 state championship team and led Chipola College in Marianna, Fla., to the Florida College System Activities Association and NJCAA quarterfinals with a 28-5 record before transferring to the Arkansas Razorbacks.
Northcross-Baker played in all 29 games this season for the Razorbacks. She averaged 5.6 points per game and ranked sixth on the team in minutes as coach Mike Neighbors regularly looking to her as his first player off of the bench.
Arkansas finished the regular season as the No. 13 seed in the Southeastern Conference and will face Vanderbilt in the first round of the conference tournament Wednesday in Nashville, Tenn.
Clayborn said she was happy to return to her home state this season. Her familiarity with Westbrook as AAU teammates helped further convince her to transfer to Jonesboro, where the two are now roommates.
"It is great to be here," Clayborn said. "I love the environment, I love the team and I love being back home. It feels great."
Clayborn's career may further resemble Westbrook's after her season unfortunately ended earlier this month following knee surgery. She played in nine games this season, which could allow the team to obtain a medical redshirt from the NCAA this summer.
"Growing is my No. 1 thing," Clayborn said. "I take that so serious. Akasha has been a huge help with me."
Arkansas State (14-13, 9-7) is currently sixth in the Sun Belt with two regular season games remaining. The Red Wolves have road games this week at Louisiana (14-14, 9-7) and Louisiana-Monroe (4-23, 1-15) before next week's conference tournament in New Orleans.
"Even though I did not get to play last year, I definitely did mature, both offensively and defensively, focusing on what Coach B wants, how he wants to run the offense and how he wants to run the defense," Westbrook said.
"I think it helped me a lot now, defensively, because I pretty much know exactly what he wants. I am looking forward to another year of getting out there and getting at it."
Sports on 02/27/2018