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For Jackson State’s Andriana Avent, NCAA tournament has been a long time coming
Guard will make her first March Madness appearance when the Tigers face UConn
Jackson State University guard Andriana “AD” Avent and other members of the women’s basketball team were sitting in Johnny T’s Bistro & Blues in Jackson, Mississippi, on Selection Day, excited to be a part of the nationally televised broadcast. For some players Selection Day wasn’t a new experience, but Avent, who is in her first season with the Tigers, couldn’t stop thinking how blessed she was to be there.
“It took a lot of hard work,” Avent said. “It was a lot of trials and tribulations, but throughout my process I never gave up.”
After five seasons spent at three different schools, Avent has finally reached the NCAA tournament. No. 14 seed Jackson State will face No. 3 seed UConn on Saturday in the opening round after Jackson State won the Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament March 16 to earn a berth.
When Avent entered the transfer portal a season ago, she immediately made a lot of buzz as a top transfer from a historically Black college. While on the bus heading to a SWAC tournament game in March 2023, a few Jackson State players saw Avent’s social media announcement and quickly informed the coaching staff, which seized the opportunity to reach out and build a relationship with her.
“I trust the coaching staff. I knew that they will take me to the next level, not just on the court but outside the court as well. [They have] created me to be a better person,” Avent said. “I feel like this journey throughout this last year at Jackson State has made me become a bigger and better person. As far as working out, the hard work and dedication, having no days off, I feel like has played a big part as well.”
Avent, a native of Sacramento, California, began her career at the University of New Mexico in 2019 before transferring to Texas Southern University as a redshirt sophomore in 2021.
When Avent committed to Jackson State for the 2023-24 season, as a second-time transfer she wasn’t immediately eligible to play and the NCAA denied her waiver. The initial belief was she would redshirt this season with the Tigers and play next year. When a federal judge ruled in favor of allowing second-time transfers immediate eligibility to play in December 2023, Avent joined Jackson State before the start of conference play.
“It was bittersweet at first when I got denied,” she said. “I was really sad because I was gonna have to sit out a whole year, but once they made the rule change I was in a gym consistently every day.”
Before coming to Jackson State, Avent was an All-SWAC First Team selection during the 2021-22 season and one of Texas Southern’s lead scorers the following season, averaging 16.3 points.
She learned she would have a new role at Jackson State under coach Tomekia Reed.
“AD can start on any program in the country. When she came to Jackson State, she accepted the role to come off the bench,” Reed said. “When she bought into that role, she was OK with it. She understood when she came off the bench, she had to come in and change the game, change the tempo.
“That’s hard to do, to kind of go from being ‘the man’ to coming off the bench. … Overall she was a great student, a great listener, and she did a great job. She’s extremely coachable.”
Avent debuted with Jackson State on Dec. 20, 2023, against the University of Miami, coming off the bench. This season, although she has started two games, she has spent most of the year as a late spark for the Tigers. The transition wasn’t too hard, she said. The biggest thing for her was maintaining her confidence.
“I knew once I was in the game that they depend on me to come in and make a change and to be able to contribute and help my teammates,” Avent said. “It wasn’t just about me, but it was about them as well, coming together and being able to pull it all together.”
The coaching staff at Jackson State describes her as naturally offensively gifted, but they spent most of the season teaching Avent what were good shots and bad shots on the court and how to play defense consistently.
“We know she can score. I mean, she can just get [her shot] off against anybody. Once she gets one it’s lights out,” said assistant coach Jonathan Williams, who works with the team’s guards. “But getting her to defend that was tough, so every day we preach, ‘Defend, rebound.’ She bought into it.”
Assistant coach LaShonda Cousin, who also works with the guards, agreed.
“Earlier part of conference [play], she wanted to be out on the court and we told her, ‘Hey, we need you on the court, but if you’re not rebounding, not defending, you’re not helping the program,’ ” Cousin said. “Coach Reed told her, ‘Hey, you rebound and defend, we’re gonna leave you on the court.’ And she went out, started defending, started to rebound and she stopped [fouling].”
Jackson State is No. 2 in the nation in field goal percentage defense, holding opposing teams to shooting 33.6% from the field. The Tigers are among three historically Black colleges and universities to rank in the top five for team defense along with North Carolina A&T State University (No. 3) and Howard University (No. 5).
“My defense has played a big part this year,” Avent said. “I’ll say last year at Texas Southern I took plays off, but here at Jackson State that’s not allowed. Defense wins games, so I took that into consideration and played it to the best of my ability.”
Avent was crucial to Jackson State’s conference championship win. She tallied a team-high 17 points, shooting 4 for 9 from 3-point range, in the 68-44 victory over Alcorn State. Her performance earned her the SWAC tournament’s MVP award.
“We’re happy to have her involved with our current players and she just changed the game for us,” Reed said. “She stretches the floor. She’s superaggressive. Our guard coaches do a really good job with her, so I’m just proud of what she does for our program.”
For the Jackson State coaches, seeing Avent enjoy the SWAC championship win was satisfying.
“She’s been dreaming of this moment ever since she’s gotten to college,” Cousin said. “Even when she got to Jackson State her mom and family all talked about how she’s never won a championship in college and that’s why she came to Jackson State to do so. It won’t be too hard to get her ready to go for whoever we face in the first round.”
Jackson State guards Miya Crump, Ti’lan Boler, and Keshuna Luckett, three players who played significant minutes the last time the Tigers earned an NCAA tournament bid in 2022, are helping Avent and other teammates ahead of their postseason matchup against UConn.
“[They said] that it only gets harder, you can’t let it up,” Avent said. “You have to have the same energy, keep our composure and stay dedicated and have each other’s back throughout the long run. … Whether there may be some bad call, you have to continue to fight through it. Don’t argue with the refs and keep our head up throughout the process.”