NC State women’s basketball senior center Akela Maize has come a long way in the past four years. Maize has become a respectable player but she didn’t start with basketball.
When asked about why she started basketball, Maize gave a unique response.
“Basketball? Well you know I used to be a cheerleader; I used to be a dancer,” Maize said. “I did so much stuff but over the years people [would] tell [me] with my height being 6’5” like, ‘you know, basketball is where most people with your height go.’ So then [I] tried it out like a social thing and your friends play it too and you’re just having fun while you’re doing it. And then along the way you start to love the game and you start to love how the fans react to a 3-point shot or a blocked shot, things like that you feel and you gather energy. So that’s where I chose basketball because in other sports you don’t really get that [energy]. I like that aspect of that.”
That energy from the fans is what helped Maize’s decision to come play at NC State.
“The fans are great here,” Maize said. “They’re honestly our sixth man helping us win games with their energy, bringing the energy to help us, uplift us, and that was a big thing when I had come to a State game before I committed [to State]. Just seeing how engaged they were. It was like they were on the team with us. So that was a big reason why I came to State.”
And the Wolfpack is glad she chose NC State. This season has been a great year for Maize all-around, with career highs in blocks, shots and rebounds, including a high of 11 total rebounds against Virginia Tech. Two career records against Alabama were managing five blocks and 20 points.
Despite the career highs, Maize explains that she just wants to do her best for the team.
“I know I was going to have a bigger role, this being my senior year,” Maize said. “I don’t really think about career highs. It’s a great thing that I have those career highs, but I know as a player and as a leader on the team that I need to step up my game. Having those career highs is a result of that.”
Associate head coach Nikki West agreed with Maize stepping up as a role model on the team and explained that Maize isn’t only a reliable player on the court.
“Akela is a leader on the court as well as off the court,” West said. “I think she’s doing a very good job of mentoring her teammates and especially the freshmen, making sure that they understand their roles and what we expect, and just making sure everyone is in line. She’s done a great job at doing that.”
Personally, Maize takes pride in her defensive contributions to the team, claiming it’s her largest strength towards the team’s efforts.
“Definitely defense,” Maize said. “I’m the leading shot blocker on our team. So I definitely bring that defensive intensity and defensive help. That can lead to quick buckets and transition, which, we’re really good in transition, and we get a lot of energy from transition. So that also helps our game.”
West took a different angle though; and praised Maize’s strength in offensive plays.
“Akela’s biggest strength I would have to say is being a force on that low block and making people have to respect that and guard us down there,” West said. “She’s given us some more offense because, face it, last year we had a lot of guards who contributed a lot of points. And Akela who has done a good job of picking up that slack and scoring for us on a consistent basis.”
Even after all of Maize’s accomplishments and growth this year, she remains humble and level-headed, acknowledging things she wishes to improve upon for the remainder of her last season.
“I definitely want to improve more with my field goal percentage,” Maize said. “Making those easy shots around the basket. Things along that matter. Assists, I want to get better in that [too]. And as a team, I want us to get better in talking and communicating. Not having those mental lapses that coach talks about all the time, where we may not remember a play or know a play that could lose a possession. I think along the road we should get better as a team.”
Maize has taken some of the constructive criticism from the coaching staff and has reaped the benefits from working on them; such as growing stronger and becoming more physical on the court.
“She has definitely dedicated herself in the weight room; she has gotten stronger,” West said. “She’s a force in the paint, she blocks shots [and] she scores points for us. She has definitely improved and has been doing a great job. We have five more weeks of regular season, so I hope to continue to see more and more and more from her.”
Maize reflects on the dwindling time left in the regular season, marking her last games as a senior.
“Wow, only nine games left in the regular season,” Maize said. “Well my thoughts on that is that I better take advantage of it while it lasts. It’s a small amount of games and you never know postseason, how many games you’re going to get. So making sure I make the best out of all the games and I give 100 percent each time I step on the court.”
Following up on that, Maize had some final words of what she wanted to accomplish with her team and what kind of a mark she wanted to leave for the program.
“Honestly, I want to do better than we did last year,” Maize said. “I don’t want people to say, ‘hey we only went far last year because we had those four seniors.’ I want it to be, ‘we can do it as a team. We don’t just need those four seniors to take us to the second round.’ I want people to say, ‘hey, as a team and coach Moore being the coach, we went farther than we did with those four seniors.’ That’s the kind of the goal that I have for this team. Hoping we can get to at least a Final Four [or] Sweet 16.”
West had heartwarming words for Maize’s efforts towards the program as a player and as a young woman.
“I am probably the most excited, impressed and loving it for Akela,” West said. “She has every year gotten better and she’s blossomed. And this is the ideal senior year for her so every accolade she’s received she deserves because she has worked so hard this summer, these past few off seasons to get all of this. I am extremely proud of her and excited for her.”
West ended with saying that she hopes Maize will only continue growing.
“The sky’s the limit so she’ll be able to do whatever she wants to do when she graduates,” West said.
Senior center Akela Maize jumps to dunk the ball while playing against the University of Southern Alabama in the women's basketball game in Reynolds Coliseum on Nov. 17. The Wolfpack beat the Jaguars, 71-50, in a thus far undefeated regular season.
