Family is a huge part of Azurá Stevens life. So much so that she didn’t want to leave them when looking to go to college for basketball. Maryland was the only out-of-state school that Stevens was considering. All other schools were in her home state of North Carolina because she wanted to be close to her family. She committed to play at Duke, 20 minutes from her parents’ house.
Stevens tried to fit in any way that she could at Duke. Realizing life as a student-athlete didn’t give her much of an opportunity to visit home, she took to the court and worked on her game. Her 14.1 points per game led all ACC freshmen and her 120 offensive rebounds tied for first nationally among freshmen. Stevens earned ACC Freshman of the Week four times her rookie season, propelling her to an All-ACC Freshman honoree and an All-ACC Second Team selection by the Blue Ribbon Panel.
Her freshman season was filled with individual awards, but according to Stevens, she still had a lot of growing up to do as a player. Between her freshman and sophomore season, she had an opportunity to play in the 2015 FIBA U19 World Championship with USA Basketball. She helped lead the team to a gold medal, averaging 11.1 points and 5.1 rebounds while starting all eight games. The hometown kid credits her USA Basketball experience for preparing her for her sophomore season with the Blue Devils.
“I took on a different role my sophomore year,” said Stevens. “I think playing with USA Basketball going into my sophomore year helped me grow up a lot as a player. The USA experience prepared me for a starting role with Duke.”
Stevens started 25 games her sophomore season before suffering a foot injury that forced her to miss seven games towards the end of the season. Despite the injury, she received an All-ACC First Team selection and an honorable mention All-America selection. She led the ACC with 9.6 rebounds per game and finished second in the ACC in scoring at 18.9 points per game.
After her incredible sophomore season, Stevens decided to transfer to Connecticut. A high school player that didn’t want to leave home was moving 600 miles away to play for one of the most elite college basketball programs in the country. Throughout her two seasons at Duke, Stevens had gained a new confidence. A confidence that allowed her to move away from her family in North Carolina and challenge herself at the highest level of college basketball.
Transferring proved to be more difficult that she thought it would be. Sitting out the 2016-17 season, Stevens had to retrain her mind and start from scratch with a new program.
“I think the adjustment from one program to another is so difficult,” said Stevens. “It seems like it would be easy, but it is tough to change everything that you are used to and start from scratch with a whole new program. A whole new team, a whole new coaching staff, a whole new style of play. I think that was the hardest thing for me. Adjusting to a whole new culture and environment. And it is not just any culture, it is UConn. The standards that come with the program. That was the hardest part, just trying to let go of everything that I built up for the first part of my career. I tried to stay true to the player I was, but I was also trying to adapt and adjust to a new place.”
She adapted nicely to a new role at Connecticut. After starting every game her sophomore year at Duke, Stevens only started eight games at Connecticut. But she did well in her role as the first player off the bench. Stevens averaged 14.7 points and 7.4 rebounds in 37 games. She was named 2018 American Athletic Conference Newcomer and Sixth Player of the Year. Her 7.4 rebounds per game tied for the team lead and her 76 blocks led the Huskies.
After the season, Stevens decided it was time to fulfill her lifelong dream of playing in the WNBA. She left Connecticut after one season and declared for the WNBA draft.
Now the Raleigh, N.C. native has a new challenge. After being drafted sixth overall by the Wings, she will be twice as far away from home as she was at Connecticut. Twelve hundred miles separate her hometown from the next chapter in her life. But no matter how far Stevens is away from her family, they continue to motivate her every day.
“My family motivates me every day,” said Stevens. “I want to perform well to make them happy and make them proud. I want to give back to my parents and my sisters for supporting me while I was growing up. I know they had to make a lot of adjustments and sacrifices. They have sacrificed a lot and that means so much to me because they do not have to do that.”
Stevens hopes to make an immediate impact when the Wings open training camp on April 29, with the season opener taking place in Phoenix on May 18.