From freshman stalwart to sophomore standout: Anchorage's Sayvia Sellers is making a name for herself in college basketball

Apr.

12Sayvia Sellers was one of the top girls high school basketball recruits in the nation during her time spearheading the Anchorage Christian School's dynastic run at the turn of this decade.She received offers from dozens of the top Division I programs but fell in love with the University of Washington program and all it had to offer.

Being a Husky the past two years has been everything she envisioned, and then some."I really like Seattle and obviously I love my team and I love the (Washington) program," Sellers said.

"I've enjoyed my time here so far."The 2023 high school graduate built a prep legacy that is one of the best Alaska has seen.

Now she's establishing herself as one of the better players at the collegiate level as well.After standing out in a rotational role as a freshman, being named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team, Sellers transitioned to a full-time starter as a sophomore and took her game to a higher level."It was exciting and I enjoyed the role I played this year," Sellers said.

"It was a big jump from freshman to sophomore year."She finished second on the Huskies in scoring with 506 points, averaging 15.3 points per game, and led the team with 128 assists and 60 steals, earning her All-Big Ten Honorable Mention honors in the process.

She set a new single-game career high in scoring twice with a 24-point outing against then-No.7-ranked LSU in November, then she dropped 30 points on two occasions.Leading the team as a point guard comes with not only a bigger role but more responsibility as well."I feel like my teammates and coaches kind of made it a comfortable environment to learn in," Sellers said.

"I was excited about it, and it was a great year with a lot of growth on and off the court."While the speed of the game remained fast-paced with the program's move to the Big Ten, where they faced some of the top teams in the country, it slowed down for her from a mental standpoint."I learned a lot my freshman year, so I was able to kind of bring that part into my second year and learn how to make different reads," Sellers said.As members of the Pac-12 conference previously, the Huskies already had to go through a gauntlet each year with the likes of USC, UCLA, Utah and Oregon.

With their move to the Big Ten, it meant regularly going up against other top programs such as Iowa, Ohio State and Maryland."It was fun traveling to places I've never been before in the Midwest," Sellers said.

"I had a lot of fun playing against a lot of different playing styles.

...

As a competitor, I loved it."The aspect of her game she spent the most time focusing on improving was shooting efficiency.

She shot 40% from the field in 2023-24, then raised that to 47% as a sophomore with an increased workload."During the offseason, that's one thing I worked on a lot and being able to read the court and read the game, that's where the (improved) assists part came in," Sellers said.

"Just being able to find teammates and realize what the defense is doing."Her incredible court vision, which has always been one of her biggest strengths, has continued to improve at the collegiate level."You don't want to turn the ball over as a point guard, so I think just trying to slow down the game, make the right reads, and my teammates and coaches helped me out a lot with that by just talking to me," Sellers said.The Huskies went 19-14 and 9-9 in their brutal conference in 2024 and fell to Columbia in the first round of the NCAA Division I March Madness tournament.Even though the season didn't end the way they wanted, being part of the first Washington women's team to make it to the dance in almost 10 years was an experience she'll never forget and it has her as motivated as ever."It was super fun and I was really grateful for the opportunity to be a part of March Madness," Sellers said.

"As a kid growing up playing basketball, that's what you dream of.

Just playing March Madness ...

I was grateful for the experience and honored to be on the team."She and the team are taking a little reprieve from the court but plan to be back in the lab soon to begin preparing to make an even stronger run next year."I'm enjoying my teammates off the court, went home and got to see some family, but we'll be back at work soon," Sellers said.Her goals for this offseason include improving all aspects of her game but specifically, changing her "defensive mentality.""I'm going to try to be more efficient and be able to read defenses better and read the court better," Sellers said.

"Just try to grow my mind and grow the game.

I'm excited to work, and just trying to build off of what we did last summer this offseason is the main focus."Close to homeSome star athletes from the 49th state who have their pick of top colleges may move far away, and their friends and family might only get to see them during breaks or on a television broadcast.

In Washington, Sellers has found a top school that's closer to home.The flight from Anchorage to Seattle a hub many Alaskans travel through is just 3 1/2 hours long, and tickets aren't usually too cost prohibitive.

Several of Sellers' loved ones were able to attend some of her games in person this past season."Seattle is not too far from home, so I had my mom, grandpa, some of my siblings, my nephew, my grandma, some of my aunts," she said.

"It was fun being able to not be too much of a hassle to take a flight to Seattle for the weekend.

It means the world to me to have my family come support me at this level."Even for those who can't make that trek, they're able to find broadcasts of her game being televised or streamed internationally on many of the platforms they regularly use, such as ESPN and ESPN+."It's awesome and every time, someone will send me a video of them watching my game or will shoot me a text saying they're watching the game," Sellers said.

"It's very rewarding, I'll say, just to have that support system back at home."To represent Alaska on a national stage is an honor she takes tremendous pride in and doesn't take lightly."It's hard to get recruited out of Alaska, so I always think about trying to set a good example for everyone back home," Sellers said.

"Just knowing that they can do it and put that belief in them is fun."Thoughts on the futureOver the past two years since Sellers graduated, the high school girls basketball scene has been much more competitive, which is a far cry from the days of the Lions' recent dynasty, with the seemingly forgone conclusion that her team would ultimately prevail.She tries to watch every Mountain City Christian game she can on her laptop, and even though she's sad the Lions weren't able to win it all this year, she is still proud of the effort they put forth and is impressed by the high level of play by other top contenders."Colony and Wasilla are two great teams, so it stings to watch them lose to those guys, but I'm still proud of my team," Sellers said.Many of the top up-and-comers at the girls high school level, such as Bartlett's Kennedi Gaines and Service's Aryanna Watson, look up to and aspire to be like her.

She is happy to be both a role model and that her success is a benchmark for them to try to reach."I love Kennedi and Ary, they're two great kids," Sellers said.

"I'm just happy for them and I know how hard they've worked.

I've been able to work out with Kennedi a couple of times during the summer and she's just a joy and good person to be around.

She put the work in for all of the numbers she put up, so I'm super proud of both of them."Washington hasn't finalized its 2025-26 schedule yet, but there's a chance that Sellers could cross paths with a former teammate as well as an old rival next year.

As a member of the Big Ten conference, she's guaranteed to go up against Iowa and Wasilla's Layla Hays, who committed to play for the Hawkeyes this past fall.

The two of them played against each other in the Northern Lights Conference and faced off in the 4A state championship game in back-to-back years in 2022 and 2023.One of her former high school teammates, Morgan Maldonado, is committed to play at NCAA Division I Boise State University.

While the Broncos play in the Mountain West conference, the thought of their two teams playing against each other in a nonconference or tournament matchup is enticing to envision."That'd be exciting because that's one of my close friends," Sellers said.

"I'm super happy for her being able to get a full-ride Division I scholarship.

That'd be cool to play her but I have no idea how the schedule is going to be next season."With the Huskies schedule still not finalized, there's hope that one of their tournaments this fall could be none other than the Great Alaska Shootout.

In 2023, fellow Alaska hoops legend Alissa Pili came up here with the University of Utah women's team, and Sellers would love the opportunity to do the same with Washington if the opportunity ever arose."That would be cool to go home and play in front of the home crowd especially, since basketball is such a big thing in Alaska," she said.

"I think that'd be fun.

We'll see what the future holds.".

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