Get to know Anna Gret Asi, Arizona women’s basketball’s latest commit

Photo by Nicole Sweet/NBAE via Getty Images

Arizona women’s basketball had a busy weekend with two talented commits telling Adia Barnes that they would be in Tucson for the 2021-22 season.

The second of the commits, Estonian guard Anna Gret Asi, interviewed with Shane Laflin of Premier Basketball at the end of May that gave some insight into what she wanted from a school and her basketball background.

Here are some notable tidbits from that. (Her stats and highlights can be found here.)

How did she get started in basketball?

Asi comes from an athletic family. Her mother is a former player who went into coaching.

“Since I was born, she took me to every tournament she went to,” Asi told Laflin. “I think one coach from Estonia said that I grew up more in the gym than at home.”

Both Asi and her mom were tireless. After practices, she says that the two of them would play one-on-one.

“Basketball is such a big part of my life and I’ve had so many great opportunities in it,” Asi said. “If my mom hadn’t introduced me to basketball, I wouldn’t know what my life would have been.”

She’s been playing against older players since she was young

Asi said that when she started playing, Estonian girls basketball’s youngest division was U12. So she was playing against girls years older from the time she was about nine.

In 2017, at the age of 15, she was invited to start working with the senior women’s national team.

“It was really scary, to be honest” Asi said. “When I went to the first camp, it was in early summer. I was so scared. I thought of not going because I didn’t know many girls or women who would play on the national team. I’ve only played with two of them. It was so scary, but I’m really, really thankful for the coach to pick me and get the experience.”

What was she looking for in a school?

Asi said that a family atmosphere was important to her when she was being recruited, but she enjoyed the entire recruiting process.

“The most exciting thing for me is getting to know people at the different universities,” she said.

But what does she really want to do?

“I would definitely enjoy playing in the NCAA Tournament,” she said. “Which means that the team has good players, has good coaches.”

She’s a high achiever in the classroom, too

Asi attends Tartu Jaan Poska Gymnasium in Tartu, Estonia. The school, located in the country’s second-largest city, is one of the top high schools in the country. Asi says that despite the academic demands, the school is very supportive of students who are pursuing athletics.

When she gets to college, Asi isn’t completely sure what she will major in, but she does have some ideas. She said her interests lie primarily in interior design and architecture right now.

Does she already know a future teammate?

An article on Eurohoops.net notes that Asi won the MVP of the 18th Basketball Without Borders Europe camp which was held in Riga, Latvia last July. The same article gives a rundown of the other awards handed out at the camp. One of those—the Patrick Baumann Award for sportsmanship—went to incoming freshman Marta Garcia of Spain.

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