South Side forward Alaya Chapman has signed her letter of intent to continue her basketball career and her education at Huntington University. She plans to major in Business and to minor in Fashion Design. She got to visit the campus during basketball season.
“When I went to Huntington for a visit, it felt like I was at home. I got to meet the coach, and it was just really nice,” Chapman said. “I got to meet [the basketball team] too. They were great. [The] other people around Huntington were very nice to me.”
“Alaya worked really hard to make this happen,” South Side head coach Juanita Goodwell said. “Coming into her senior season she knew that she would need to put her talents on display and convince those who were interested in her to commit to her. That is what she did. She worked through some adversity to stay with it, and the fact that she accomplished her goal, it makes me very proud.”
Chapman joins a Huntington program coached by Lori Culler. Culler has been the Foresters’ head coach for over 30 years. Under Culler, Huntington has won 594 games and two NCCAA national championships (1991 and 1992).
“They’re a really good team, I love the way they play,” Chapman said. “I like how they’re so uplifting with each other.”
Chapman played for another successful head coach at South Side. Juanita Goodwell has coached the Archers for eleven years. Under Goodwell, South Side has won 185 games and four sectional titles. The most recent sectional championship was in 2018. Chapman was a part of that team.
Playing college basketball was a dream of Chapman’s before she started playing high school ball, something she told Coach Goodwell about.
“The summer before she came to South Side, we went to dinner to talk about her goals and what she wanted to accomplish by the end of her time with us,” Goodwell said. “She told me that she wanted to keep playing beyond high school. That day we talked about the road ahead of her and how much control she has over that happening. She was a versatile player and gave us a major spark when needed.”
Chapman has averaged 10 points per game or more in each of the last two seasons. She averaged 10.0 points per game last season, and 10.1 points per game this season. Goodwell has seen a great deal of growth from her.
“Throughout her years, she grew from a fun-spirited player to a more committed player,” Goodwell said. “She has always had talent. She just needed to commit to the hard work side of the game. She kept us smiling with her fun-spirit and gave us much to enjoy with her effort on the court.”
Alaya’s older sister Archer Taniece Chapman played for South Side. Taniece was the Archers’ leading scorer on that 2018 sectional championship team. Taniece proved to play a huge role in Alaya’s development.
“She pushed me, motivated me, she lets me know from my…mistakes which is really needed from a big sister,” Alaya Chapman said. “She’s always there for me. She helps me out a lot. She gets me through the hard times, and we’re there for each other.”
Goodwell’s advice to Chapman as she gets ready for college, would basically be to continue to improve as a player.
“She needs to use her base talent and find ways to grow to be a consistently dominant player, which is an ability that she has,” Goodwell said. “Never lose the love for the game, and always accept the challenge ahead.”
