(Photo by Victor Tan / New Day Review)
ORLANDO, Fla. – Aliyah Gregory enters her fourth and final season at the University of Central Florida under unfamiliar circumstances. For the first time in her career, the Tampa native was named to the preseason All-American Athletic Conference First Team. That should come as no surprise, though, as Gregory finished her junior year with All-AAC First Team honors as well.
Now, Gregory is poised for her best year yet after posting career-high averages in points, rebounds, steals, free-throw percentage and field-goal percentage a season ago. Despite the early recognition, Gregory tries to avoid paying any attention to accolades, especially before the season has even begun.
“I try not to get too caught up in [preseason honors],” Gregory said at the team’s media day on Oct. 24. “I’m focused, right now, on our team and what we can do as a team. I don’t care what team I make. As long as we, you know, reach our goals at the end of the season, as a team, I’ll be happy.”
For second-year Knights head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson, the first noticeable difference about Gregory is her physical appearance. She’s noticed a significant increase in strength, referring to Gregory more than doubling her junior year’s preseason push-ups total to over 100.
“Well I think her strength has improved. She’s not just this wiry, little—I don’t know—not skinny, but you can’t push her around as much,” Abrahamson-Henderson said at the team’s media day on Oct. 24. “…She was walking next to [assistant coach Nykesha Sales]. Like, that’s the best 3 guard you wanna look like and act like and play like, and I was like, ‘Wow, Aliyah. Your back, your shoulders—you look like a pro.’
“Like, her body looks different now. Like, she’s all cut up, and she’s super strong. And that’s just really gonna help her game because I don’t think a lot of people are gonna, like, let her cut to the basket… They’re not gonna let her get to the basket easy, and she’s gonna need that strength, and that’s really what she’s worked on in the offseason.”
Though Gregory isn’t focused on personal accolades, Abrahamson-Henderson said her leading scorer from last season will naturally have a bigger spotlight this season. The Knights graduated shooting guard Zykira Lewis, the Knights’ all-time leader in three-pointers made. Lewis, who also has recorded the second-most points ever scored by a Knight, was second in points per game (16.0) behind only Gregory (16.6) last year.
“[Gregory] was really excited about this year,” Abrahamson-Henderson said. “I know that she probably feels a little pressure, you know, being a preseason pick ‘cause she wasn’t [our] first year, and so she could kinda play under the radar a little bit under Zy, but, now, I think she feels a little pressure…”
Now, opposing teams know what to expect from the 5-foot-10 guard and her teammates. That’s a change Gregory noticed from opponents late in the season, as they started to play her differently. With Lewis on the perimeter, Gregory did most of her scoring inside the three-point line, shooting 7-for-20 from deep last year. In her first two seasons, Gregory combined for a 29-for-109 clip.
“We kinda ended up preparing for [teams acknowledging our quality] at the end of last year. At the end of last year, people end up guarding me different; people end up going into games against us differently,” Gregory recalled. “So, I think we kinda got some practice with it last year, and I think, going into this offseason, Coach Abe is really, really stressing, you know, taking advantage of the opportunities that we have and not taking anything for granted ‘cause we aren’t gonna catch anybody by surprise this season.”
Fortunately for Gregory, the pressure won’t all be on her. Abrahamson-Henderson will have Zakiya Saunders, a player who transferred from the University at Albany with Abrhamson-Henderson to UCF, available and sophomore point guard Korneila Wright. Abrahamson-Henderson described coaching Saunders, again, as a “dream come true.”
“The great thing about Zakiya and Kay Kay is that they’re trying to take that pressure off [Gregory] and just tell her she’s good and she’s okay, and we got your back, and we’re gonna help you, and I think we can score in many more places this year,” Abrahamson-Henderson said. “So, all the pressure’s not gonna be on her to score, but it’s really gonna help when they are scoring, and so people are gonna have to take their eyes off her for a little bit, and then she can get back into her rhythm and what she’s doing. And Coach Kesh has been working on her three a little bit. So if she hits a three, we got five that can hit a three.”
With her collegiate career coming to a close, Gregory knows her senior year is an important one. She has her sights set on playing beyond college.
“Yeah, I definitely wanna play professionally,” she said. “So, you know, it’s important for me to have a good year this year. And, like I said, take care of my body so that I’m able to play after this.”
Gregory, Abrahamson-Henderson and the rest of the Knights will have an opportunity to show off their improvements in their season-opener against the Mercer Bears on Friday at 5:30 p.m. The men’s team is also opening its season on Friday against Mercer at 8 p.m.
For more on the Knights, as they prepare for Mercer and the season-opener on Friday, follow Victor Tan on Twitter at @NDR_VictorTan.
