East Forsyth girls’ basketball standout Alyssa Jessup signed her national letter of intent to play basketball for Fayetteville State University last week at the Madd Dawg Center in Kernersville.
Jessup had a number of options on what school to attend and play basketball for but liked what she saw at Fayetteville State.
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“I wanted to go to a school with a lot of Black culture so I could tap into that part of my family. The campus was beautiful, and the team was so nice, so all of that definitely influenced my decision,” Jessup said.
Jessup was all-conference as a guard in her junior year, when she played for Glenn High Point. She transferred to East Forsyth for her senior year and was again named to the Central Piedmont 4-A all-conference team.
“At East I enjoyed how they made practice not feel like practice. It was fun and enjoyable. It felt different every time. I connected with the players. They were good basketball players with high basketball IQs. It was fun to play with them and not play against them,” Jessup said.
While it was only for one season, Lady Eagles Head Coach Jeremy Autry was happy Jessup chose to play for his team.
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“We finished 16-9, which was the most for the program since 2005, and we finished second in the conference and won the conference tournament. She has a lot of offers like Greensboro College, Methodist, Johnson & Wales and Emory & Henry. She can play both guard positions, and she played both for us, probably more at the two guard position for us. I think she has a great chance to play early at Fayetteville State. She averaged 11 points game, and what made her unique was she averaged 5.5 rebounds per game from the guard position. She attacks the glass, and she is very aggressive,” Autry said. “If you need her to be the primary ball handler she can do that. She is very unselfish and is a great passer. She was our second-leading three-point shooter and had the best shooting percentage on the team. If someone was having a good game, she would find them. She is a great teammate and student. If she was off the floor for a bit, she was cheering for the team as much as when she was on the floor. She does the work in the classroom and on the court. Every school we talked to appreciated that. I think that is some of the things that got her the offers she got.”
Jessup said she started playing basketball when she was 4 or 5 years old. She played recreational basketball up until sixth grade and then played for travel teams. Last year she played for the Winston-Salem Stealers program, which is overseen by Bishop McGuinness High School girls’ basketball coach Brian Robinson, who has led the Lady Villains to 12 state championships.
Jessup is confident she will get playing time early at Fayetteville State.
“The coach said I will get opportunities to play the first two years, but of course I will have to prove myself. I am going to work hard, and I will be able to play,” said Jessup.
From an academic standpoint, Jessup plans to major in kinesiology and minor in psychology. She said she wants to go into coaching after she finishes college.
