Myah Autry is one of the Lady Basketball players that come from Chicago. As she grew up her mother and father were separated, and she was the only girl out of four brothers.
“I started playing ball when I was 17 years old,” said Autry.
As she grew up she was just a normal kid who did what a normal kid would do, like hanging out with her friends, and going to the mall, and movies. As Autry got older, she felt like God gave her the gift to play basketball, which was her way of getting out of the environment that she grew in.
“Where I grew up, it was fast-paced, rough, you had to know how to serve on your own it was the city life, you could not lose sight of hope,” Autry said.
“My brother is the person that taught me how to play basketball. He taught me the correct way to play all the positions and lay-ups,” Autry said. “I remember for every lay-up that I did, my brother had me do push ups.”
Basketball became an outlet for her to get out of the environment that she was in. Autry remembers her first game like it was yesterday.
Sitting on the bench, the crowd was cheering and the players were yelling plays at each other. Shoes were squeaking and the ball was bouncing as she watched her teammates hustle up and down the floor.
“The coach came to me and said get in the game, and when I got on the floor, everything just changed and game mode was in gear,” Autry said. “I grasp myself and from that moment on I started learning who I was and how to become a better player.”
Even though Autry has only been playing basketball four years, she feels like she has been doing this forever.
“Before Coach Tills-Jones called me and ask me if I wanted to play basketball for TJC Lady Apaches, I felt the path of basketball was over,” Autry said. “When I got that phone call saying that my plane was leaving for Tyler, Texas, I felt speechless. Honestly, I knew from that moment there is a God.”
Playing for TJC Autry feels like she is in a better conference and that it is helping her become a better player and person. After TJC, Autry plans to transfer to a D-1 school closer to home, and after that try out for Women’s National Basketball Association.
