The roar of the crowd, celebratory high fives, chants with teammates, bus rides and big games are memories that flood an athlete’s mind during their final high school season. But for Senior Ayla McDowell there so much more.
Playing on her first national team representing Brasil, committing to South Carolina, being named a McDonald’s All American, winning District MVP after leading the Panthers to the Regional final then squaring up against WNBA stars at the Nike Hoop Summit made it a magical year to remember.
Add being the 2025 VYPE Player of the year, Fox’s 26 News Making the Grade Honoree, Parker University’s Bobble Head winner while reaching her 1,000 rebound milestone this season and finishing your high school career with 2,713 points while averaging 25.1 point per game there is no doubt the impact she had on the game.
McDowell has been blowing her opponents away since her freshman year. she immediately turned heads with her talent and won District MVP. She repeat her success as a sophomore and won MVP again and last year she was named First Team All-District. Behind her leadership and skill the Panthers were undefeated district champs the last three seasons.
She has become a role model for many people whether they know her personally or not. She continues to gain fans as she dominates the playing field.
McDowell only started to show interest in basketball when she was ten years old while watching the NBA Finals. She decided that she would like to try playing basketball. Initially before choosing to play basketball she played golf, but eventually chose basketball as her primary sport
¨My mother supported me as soon as I told her I wanted to play basketball. She has always supported me in whatever decisions I make,” McDowell said.
McDowell made Varsity as a freshman.
¨She was extremely shy coming in but slowly she began to reach out and grow. She has always put in the effort, and it has been amazing to work with her. I am so grateful to have seen her progress,” Cy Springs Head Coach Taniesha Rogers.
McDowell has always put in the effort, sometimes even waking up at 4 AM just to train. It is clear even to the naked eye that McDowell leads the team by example, always striving to improve. Coach Rogers constantly praises McDowell work ethic and says McDowell is just a great person.
Thinking back to the beginning of her career, the highlights that stood out to McDowell specifically were making connections with new people, while learning the game of basketball, and going on new adventures.
¨Constantly working towards my goal and being self motivated is a very important factor to becoming great. Betting on yourself, and putting trust into your teammates, and parents have truly brought me to where I am today,” McDowell said, ¨I don’t have a role model. I am very self motivated I guess my role model is myself but my inspiration is my mom she inspires me to do my best in everything I do.”
Adventures don´t quite nearly describe how it felt like for McDowell to play for the Brasil National Team. She was recognized by a representative here in the States and went to try out for the team and ended up earning a spot. She’s had a chance to play against WNBA players giving her a taste of what it will be like when she goes up against professional players in the near future.
Her next journey is playing for the Gamecocks at the University of South Carolina.
¨I have been a very big fan of the Gamecocks since forever and I am very glad to be handing McDowell off to Coach Staley,¨ Coach Rogers said. ¨I will always support her no matter what she has a great future ahead and I can’t wait to see what else she does.¨
McDowell will also be majoring in mechanical engineering while at South Carolina.
¨I didn’t just choose South Carolina because of their winning program but also because of their academic programs overall Columbia is a safe community for me to continue to grow.”
McDowell´s dream are big, but realistic, ¨I´d also like to play overseas if that is possible and I´d like to become an engineer after I´m done with basketball, and take my degree and do something good with it.¨
Coach Rogers has been with McDowell all four years, guiding her and pushing her to the best of her abilities.
¨My message to Ayla hasn’t changed. Keep your head down and do what you are there to do. I call my seniors my toddlers, she is one of my toddlers and I´m just sending her to Staley’s daycare,” Rogers said.
While the road in life is never predictable, it’s no secret that McDowell will succeed, not only in basketball but in life, while having the support of everyone at Cy Springs behind her.
