New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Commit Shade has passion for hoops
Noblesville High School was tied with the clocking winding down to the final seconds.
Leading scorer Ashlynn Shade, who is committed to UConn, drove to the basket as another defender made their way in front of her. Shade, the No. 5 recruit in the Class of 2023, could still have taken the shot and she probably would have made it, but instead she bounce-passed the ball to teammate Dani Mendez.
Mendez, who averaged 3.4 points per game this season, didn’t have time to think. She caught the ball and made the layup, winning the game.
The clock expired and the team surrounded Mendez in celebration.
To Noblesville coach Donna Buckley, that’s the play that most shows who Shade really is — a leader on and off the court. It’s why the standout from Indiana became a recruiting priority for UConn.
“Everybody in the gym was probably like, ‘What are you doing?’ when she made that pass to Dani, but the time that she’s invested in that relationship with Dani and building that trust and Dani being empowered by her teammate ... that had nothing to do with anything on the court.,” Buckley said. “That was all the work Ashlynn put into that kid off the floor.”
Shade verbally committed to UConn on Jan. 12. She’s the program’s second Class of 2023 commit following KK Arnold’s commitment in November. In under a year-and-a-half, the 5-foot-9 guard will bring a basketballdriven passion, a competitive nature and a selfless presence when she moves to Storrs as an official Husky.
The high school junior had planned to make her college commitment announcement this spring after the season had ended. But after visiting Storrs on an unofficial visit in early January, Shade knew there was no point in waiting.
She knew she wanted to be a Husky.
“When I got to UConn and those few days I was there, it just like immediately clicked and I knew that I couldn’t pass up on this opportunity,” Shade said.
“So I decided to commit early.”
Her visit to Storrs was her final unofficial visit on her list of schools that expressed interest in her. She watched from one of the front seats in Gampel Pavilion as the Huskies took down Creighton on Jan. 9. Whether it was watching the team live in person, being on campus, meeting the coaches or just walking through the program’s practice facility at Werth Family Champions Center, Shade knew where she wanted to play.
“Just the awe you get when you’re standing in their practice facilities and knowing, like, this is where you go to be great,” she said. “I could just feel that when I was there and just getting to meet everyone. I just had this gut feeling that it was where I wanted to be.”
She was so overwhelmed with emotion, excitement, nervousness, standing inside Geno Auriemma’s office telling the Hall of Fame coach that she wanted to play him, that her words came out frantic. Shade hadn’t planned on committing so early, but it was a weight lifted off her shoulders.
“It was just kinda a decision I knew was right and it kinda took the pressure off of always constantly (wondering) where I was gonna play at, and all of that stress that comes along with being recruited,” she said. “But when I committed it was almost just like a pressure release. I mean, obviously, there’s all these high expectations that follow with committing to UConn but with my family and my support system it’s easier for me to handle. I’m just excited that I can consider myself a UConn commit.”
The Indiana native first picked up basketball in elementary school with her twin brother, Jack. She briefly walked away from the sport for a year since there were not any local girls teams and she didn’t like being the only girl on her brother’s team: “I just remember it was a lot of sweaty boys.”
She came back to the sport in fourth grade and joined an all-girls team. Her passion was immediately sparked. Shade began learning the ins and outs of basketball, developing her skills and impressing coaches.
“Typically with little kids, you may see a kid who’s athletic, but she was clearly very, very athletic and just really skilled for her age,” Buckley says. “I remember watching her just doing some skill work and just being mesmerized by her skill level at such a young age. … From early on you could just tell that her skill set was off the charts, and she was going to be really special.”
When Shade was in middle school, Buckley had her working out with her varsity team at Noblesville. She even put Shade in during summer games until her assistant coach told her they needed to figure out a way to win without the middle-schooler before the season actually started.
“As a middle-schooler, we could put her in varsity games in the summer and she could just take over,” Buckley said. “I mean, you could just see the writing on the wall very early that this kid was just different.”
Shade has averaged over 20 points per game all three seasons at Noblesville. As a sophomore, she led the Millers to their first sectional title since 2017. Along with 20.9 points per game as a junior this season, she averaged 8.3 rebounds and 4.1 assists. She beat out 2022 UConn signee and incoming freshman Ayanna Patterson (from Fort Wayne) for the 2021-22 Gatorade Indiana Girls Basketball Player of the Year.
“Basketball is my life,” Shade said. “It just molds me every single day as a person, especially as a person, because it’s just the gift that keeps on giving.”
For Shade, the sport has meant so much more than any accolade or win. To her, it’s a chance to give back and help others.
In 2017, Shade’s parents, Mark and Kasey Shade, helped found Indiana Girls Basketball (IGB), a local AAU all-girls basketball program to help promote the sport and support female basketball players. Shade herself competes on IGB’s AAU team while also dedicating time to coaching and teaching in its youth programs.
“I think that’s just bigger than basketball,” she said. “Basketball is kinda like the device that we get to use to connect with all of each other and I think basketball really brings people together. You just learn so much from the sport from leadership, communication; I think it just really helps you improve as a human. I think basketball is literally the greatest thing ever.”