A Gem of a Player: Agwa moves to the top of AHS’s scoring list – Austin Daily Herald

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Austin senior Ajiem Agwa recently moved to the top of the AHS’s all-time leading scoring list. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com

Austin’s Ajiem Agwa drives to the basket during the first half against Rochester John Marshallin Ove Berven Gym. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

In today’s world of prep basketball, numbers are often inflated.

Sometimes players are brought up as middle schoolers and finish with astronomic career stats, and other times an entire offense will be run through a single player, which also leads to big-time scoring outputs.

Austin senior Ajiem Agwa doesn’t fall into any of those categories, but she still finds herself at the top of the career scoring list for the Austin girls basketball program. Agwa had just 501 career points going into her sophomore season, but she’s exploded in the scoring column over the past two years and she recently reached 1,658 career points to surpass her former teammate Hope Dudycha, who is now playing Division II basketball at the University of Minnesota-Crookston, as AHS’s all-time leading scorer.

“Last year, I don’t think we saw her coming. That jump was an amazing thing that just kind of happened.,” Austin head coach Eric Zoske said of Agwa’s rise. “She has the ability to shoot threes, she has the ability to shoot even deeper threes and then when you guard her up close, she can go past you and finish at the rim. I don’t think she’s ever point hunting or shooting too much. She plays within the game and she shoots so efficiently and effectively. She’s always under control.”

Agwa also holds the single game scoring record for the Packers when she torched Mankato West for 51 in a game last season. With defenses face-guarding her and keeping her out of the paint, Agwa hasn’t had any monster scoring games this season, but she’s been incredibly consistent as she’s on pace for her second straight season with over 600 points.

“I’ve had to change the way I play a little bit,” Agwa said. “I’ve had to shoot more instead of driving, because that’s what they’re trying to eliminate. I just have to make my shots.”

Agwa plays with a quiet confidence on the court and she learned from playing with Dudycha that it’s best to stay in the moment and never think ahead, no matter how good or bad things are going.

“I learned not to take any games for granted and just take it game by game,” Agwa said. “(Setting the record) means a lot to me because I never thought I would accomplish it. I was never really searching for it, but it happening is a big step for my basketball career.”

Agwa isn’t sure where she’ll play next season, but she is going to play in college somewhere. For now, she’s focused on helping the Packers put together another playoff run as the Section 1A Tournament will begin next week.

“I really think we can go far together if we play to the best of our abilities,” Agwa said. “When my teammates are passing the ball, and everyone else is scoring too, that makes it so much more fun. When everyone’s involved, that’s why I love playing basketball.”

Zoske said that the impressive thing about Agwa’s approach is that she’s never demanding the ball or forcing bad shots.

“She’s a total team player. It’s not about her and it’s never been about her,” Zoske said. “She just does it because she’s good enough to do it and it’s what the team needs. She’s just a fantastic teammate.”

Although she still has a few games left as a Packer, Agwa can now take a short moment to look back and reflect. 

“I just want to thank my teammates and coaches for pushing me in practice, holding me accountable and making me the player that I am today,” she said.