As well she was one of five players named to the Boston Herald Dream Team and one of five players named to the Boston Globe Super Team. During that same time frame she garnered 2 back to back Merrimack Valley Conference MVP awards over current D-1 players. Currently at Notre Dame Prep, Ashley is doing a year of post-grad work. We take this opportunity to go One on One with Ashley Rivera.
Full Court:How did your high school season go this year?
Ashley Rivera:Well it was a very interesting year to say the least. I was supposed to go to college this year. I actually took an official visit last year to Indiana State and had offers from a couple D-1 schools but I found out that a class my HS thought was a core class wasn’t in fact a core.
Full Court: Wow that must have been heart-breaking. So what did you do this year?
Ashley Rivera: I could have went to a couple of major juco’s in Florida, but I didn’t want to give up 2 years of eligibility because of an oversight by my HS, so I did a year in prep school, at Notre Dame Prep in Massachusetts. They have a great tradition with boy’s and girl’s players going D-1 and I was familiar with the school because I used to work out with them whenever my high school team didn’t have practice. So I knew the girls and I had played with them a lot especially Big Luv (Jennifer Blanding) and Milan (Germany).
Full Court:So the chemistry was already in place, was the season a success?
Ashley Rivera:I would say that it was. I really worked on my game from my shooting to my ball handling and I think I’ve improved a lot. In terms of individual accomplishments I averaged 32 ppg. In terms of team goals it was an odd situation. We only had 6 players on the squad and only 5 really were basketball players. And because Notre Dame isn’t in a league there were no titles to play for. In the past the former coach used to take the team to major showcase events but this year we didn’t do that, so St. John’s saw us play a bunch and Seton Hall came to see me but other than that we never played in front of D-1 coaches. I was a little disappointed about that.
Full Court:Speaking of recruiting, how has your recruitment gone so far? Have you visited any schools and what are your impressions of them?
Ashley Rivera: Last year I took an official visit to Indiana State and I really liked it but I don’t think they are looking for a PG this year. Just recently I took an unofficial to Bryant and the coaching staff there is great. It’s close to home which is great but I’m waiting to hear from admissions. I’m also talking to Kennesaw State in Georgia and FAMU in Tallahassee. Both schools have talked to me about setting up visits. A couple of other schools have contacted my former AAU coach, (Marshall Asst. Coach) John McGraw including Stetson, Eastern Michigan and Mt. St. Mary’s. Really I’m just looking for a place that needs a creative, solid PG who can score and plays with a lot of heart.
Full Court:What are your plans for this spring and summer?
Ashley Rivera: Just going to keep working out, keep working on my game and I hope to start summer school at whatever college I end up going to.