Spearheading the six-woman incoming freshman class of the Binghamton women’s basketball team is freshman guard Ashley Redd. The Porter Ranch, California native enjoyed an illustrious high school career, culminating in a senior campaign at Sierra Canyon High School, where she averaged 17.4 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, earning second-team all-star honors. Redd credits the positionless style of play at Sierra Canyon with developing her versatility.

“At Sierra [Canyon] it was very much positionless, but we had a smaller team in the lineup,” Redd said. “So I would do some of the screens. I was very versatile, so my versatility allowed me to be in those spots and allowed others to shine at what they’re best at. So here, being a guard, the transition wasn’t too difficult, because I already know how to play guard, and also I know a couple post moves and things like that. I’m a bigger guard.”

Like many of her teammates, Redd highlighted the culture that head coach Mary Grimes is developing as a highlight of the program and a key factor in her commitment to Binghamton.

“Definitely [head] coach Grimes, her personality,” Redd said when asked about what drew her to Binghamton. “She allows me to be myself and I love what she’s doing here. And the culture that she’s trying to create in the future, definitely a winning culture, so that’s what drew me here.”

Before settling at Sierra Canyon in her junior year of high school, Redd competed across three states, beginning in New York for the Amateur Athletic Union squad Empire Blue Flames in middle school. In her freshman year of high school, Redd joined the Saddle River, New Jersey’s Saddle River Day School’s girls basketball team, accumulating 49 points and 34 rebounds in 16 appearances.

In her sophomore season, Redd transitioned to Blair Academy in Blairstown, New Jersey, where she captained the State Prep A Championship-winning squad.

“Definitely Empire [Blue Flames] played a huge role in my middle school career to transition into high school,” Redd said. “My freshman year, I went to Saddle River Day, so definitely, all that stuff helped me in my recruiting process and going to other high schools. I went from Blair Academy in sophomore year to Sierra [Canyon] in my junior year. My work ethic spoke for itself, and I wanted to push myself to play on a bigger, larger-scale team, top-10 in the country both years I played on it. So I just wanted to better myself, and I thought I saw it as a great opportunity.”

Following her junior campaign at Sierra Canyon, Redd joined the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League AAU squad, California Storm Team Taurasi 17-U, where she advanced to the final four in the Nike Championship.

“Playing for Team Taurasi, it was great,” Redd said. “In the starting lineup, I didn’t have any stars, [but] I was playing with a bunch of five stars — Tatianna Griffin [USA Women’s U16 National Team], [guard] Kaleena Smith, [rising freshman center] Emilia Krstevski, just to name a few players, also [Cal State Fullerton freshman guard] Dylan Swindle and a couple other players like that. Playing with them — it was probably one of the greatest experiences.”

“Coach [Aundre Cummings] was our coach, coach George [Quintero], head of the program,” she continued. “Definitely my favorite year of AAU by far, and I’ll say that I’ll give it to them. Just the traveling, the competitiveness of each game, it was amazing. I mean, we made it to the final four, and I was super proud of us. We could have made it all the way, but it was definitely a learning experience coming into Binghamton.”

Many players have go-to meals for after their games, whether to celebrate a win or recover after a tense match. Off the court, Redd is a pizza fanatic, highlighting the meal as a frequent post-match recovery meal.

“I love pizza so much, so I’ll probably either get some pizza, or I love Chick-fil-A,” Redd said. “I hear we’re going to get Chick-fil-A sometime soon, so I’m really excited for that.”