Some student-athletes, no matter how talented, take a modest approach when it comes to their abilities. Then, there are student-athletes like Ariel Hearn.
“I came in thinking — well, knowing — that I would be the best player to ever come through the University of Memphis and play in the women’s basketball program.”
Those were Hearn’s words as she nears the end of her tremendously successful four-year career at Memphis. Just days after Hearn dropped that quote she dropped 22 points on East Carolina in a one-point overtime victory and was named to the American Athletic Conference Weekly Honor Roll for the 10th time in her career. She might not be humble, but she can back it up.
In addition to the conference awards, the senior guard is in the top 10 in program history in seemingly every stat, including eighth in scoring, fourth in assists, third in three-pointers made and first in minutes played.
But to head coach Melissa McFerrin, perhaps more important the numbers has been Hearn’s development as a player since her breakout freshman season. Hearn averaged just less than 14 points per game in her first year at the U of M, but left a lot to be desired on defense.
According to McFerrin, Hearn improved immensely on that end of the floor in her sophomore season, and then in her junior and senior seasons became more of a distributor offensively, as well as improving her communication.
“She’s continued to develop as an on-court communicator, and now as a senior Ariel and I kind of have a chat before the game about what the offenses and defenses are,” the Tiger head coach said.
“At times I put the decision in her hands and say, ‘What do you want to run?’ It might be that she feels like one of the post players needs the ball, or she thinks (Brea Elmore) needs a shot, or she wants a shot, and she’s just really evolved to see the game nearly as a coach, but certainly as a great teammate and not from only her own perspective.”
Hearn entered her freshman season as a secondary scorer on a senior-laden team, but the situation changed dramatically entering her sophomore year. The team graduated leading scorer Nicole Dickson and lost starting point guard Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir to transfer, and as a result Hearn was the star on a team filled to the brim with freshman and sophomores.
It was a stark contrast for Hearn between her freshman and sophomore seasons. In her first year as a Tiger she was a key scorer, but she had teammates that could pick up the slack when her shot was off. In her sophomore season, she didn’t have that luxury. If Hearn wasn’t scoring at her usual rate victory was a near impossibility.
“I felt a lot of pressure, especially when I couldn’t get it going offensively it always got to my head, and Melissa and Coach Grant would always tell me don’t let it get to me, because I am still the leader and the team is going to look up to me,” Hearn said. “A lot of learning experience comes with not being on offensively.”
Fast forward to the present, and Hearn is putting forth her most complete season of her career while being the best player on a Tiger team that is 15-10 and currently in fourth place in the American Athletic Conference, which would be by far the program’s best finish since joining the league in the 2013-14 season.
Hearn’s scoring is down from the last two seasons, averaging only 14.3 points in 32 minutes per game, but she’s made up for it in other ways, averaging 4.3 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 2.4 steals while shooting a career-high 78 percent from the free throw line.
Hearn is ending her career at the U of M with a bang, and when it does come to an end this March her basketball career will only be beginning.
“My plans are to go to the WNBA,” Hearn said. “I’ll go to a combine in Indianapolis after the Final Four in April. We’ll see how that goes, and if not then I’ll probably shoot for overseas. I always said that I would never stop playing until my legs fall off. After basketball I don’t really plan on doing anything. Basketball is really my heart and my nature, but if it comes down to it I would like to coach boys starting at the collegiate level.”
Hearn started her career with the lofty goal of being the greatest women’s player to ever come to the University of Memphis. Four years and 1,853 points later, it’s probably safe to say that she’s at least put her name in the conversation.
Senior guard Ariel Hearn has played in 94 games for the Blue and Gray. She has made the American Athletic All-Conference team in each of the past two seasons.
