by Kimberly Pena
As Aleah Epps strides through her last season as a Blue Devil guard, she only wants to be remembered as one thing from her career here at Central Connecticut State University, a leader.
“Everyone listens to me,” said Epps. “I am not really loud, I am not the type to get in your face or anything. I will calmly come to you and say, hey that wasn’t a good shot, but you know what we are going to keep pushing you and working with you.”
That type of attitude has certainly worked with her teammates as they look up to her as a role model and as someone who will push each player in the team in being the best they can be.
“We definitely turn to Aleah as our leader,” said sophomore teammate Andi Lydon. “She does a good job of finding our teammates on the floor. The good thing about Aleah is that she knows everyone’s strengths. If you are a shooter, she knows where to look for you. If you get to the basket she looks for you cutting. I think that’s what makes her so good is that she knows her teammates and knows when to get us the ball.”
Epps says she knows team chemistry is what is most important and it has been something that she holds strongly since the beginning of her playing hoops.
Epps a native from Bowie, Maryland played as a regular starter for the basketball team at Archbishop Spalding High School. She says although experiencing success with her old team, it made her adjustment to Central Connecticut State University a very low moment in her career as she faced limited playing time.
“Coming from a team where I was starting and we just won a championship back-to-back, I think that was hard for me,” said Epps. “I had to adjust and just know my place, know my role and when I was called upon I’ll be able to go out there and do my thing.”
However, she said that growth and change of role allowed herself to enjoy basketball more and grow character not only as a player, but as an individual.
“It (basketball) is the foundation of everything, just trying to use it to get where I want to be,” said Epps. “But at the same time it put me where I am supposed to be. I never knew that. In high school, I didn’t take it that serious, but after college, I feel like it is everything and that makes a big difference.”
In her final year as a Blue Devil, Epps has averaged 12 points per game and has an 82% free-throw success rate, both categories highest among her teammates. But, she knows personal statistics is not what matters, it is getting the team into the championships. A goal she has set for herself since coming to Central.
“I know I want to get to the championships. I think we have the potential,” said Epps. “We put in the work every day, we have the talent.”
She understands that she will not be returning to the court next year with her teammates and that is why she wants to make sure her presence is not forgotten. Although the team without Epps may be scary for some of her teammates, they are all aware that day will come.
“I definitely think it is going to be a transition because she’s our main ball handler and our facilitator,” said Lydon. “She is going to be big shoes to fill.”
However, the team has no need to worry about that now as they still have Epps for the remaining eight games of the regular season and maybe even longer if they make a run in the tournaments.
Epps just wants to continue to play her game and lead her team to championships galore as the final hurrah of the Aleah Epps story.