It’s Brigham Young . . .

READY TO THROW: Arielle Williams-Mackey prepares to take a free throw in the national 3x3 final.Pictures by Angela Ruske

BASKETBALL

Arielle Williams-Mackey wanted to be in Gisborne to announce her scholarship to play sport in America.

The basketball prodigy had a wealth of offers from universities across America and ultimately accepted a scholarship from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. She will be playing for the BYU Cougars in 2021.

Williams-Mackey had planned to be at her whanau marae when she made public her decision to play for BYU, but Covid-19

restrictions and an increasingly busy schedule meant she was unable to come home to make the announcement.

She considers the Gisborne-East Coast area her homeland. Her mother, Dawn Lavery, says whakapapa is the driving force for Williams-Mackey.

“He uri au no Te Poho o Rawiri Marae.

“No te hapu o Ngati Oneone.

“No te iwi o Te Aitanga a Hauiti, no Ngati Porou whanui ano hoki.”

She has made plans to return to Gisborne before she leaves, but is in the midst of NCEA exams and is preparing for this week’s start to a condensed basketball season to be played over 18 consecutive days.

“I want to spend some time with family and friends before I leave in July or August next year,” Williams-Mackey said.

She will be the first player in the NCAA league to represent her iwi, and plans to be introduced as being from Ngati Porou in the player introductions.

She said she felt humbled and lucky to have received offers from a range of “awesome schools”. She chose BYU for its combination of a great basketball programme and excellent academic record. It also had a safe and inviting wider community campus.

“BYU was the big one for me. I’m really excited for the next journey in my life.”

The Cougars were seeded seventh last year in the NCAA Division 1 Women’s Basketball Tournament and placed second in their conference division.

Williams-Mackey said Covid-19 had made things difficult. She had been selected for teams whose tournaments were cancelled.

“Once everything started opening up, it was OK.”

She said there had been worries over travel for her scholarship, but a wave of local athletes travelling to play in America had eased her concerns.

Williams-Mackey has been spending as much time as possible on the court.

Last weekend she was a member of Auckland Dream’s 3x3 team who won the national championships.

She said the competition was a great way to get some extra time on the court before the 18in18 league.

“It was an awesome feeling (to win). It was a really close game (in the final). We went bucket for bucket until we pulled away in the final seconds.

“Now we’re preparing for our normal (5x5) finals . . . our goal is to get a double championship.”