How can Boston girls basketball be restored? Part 3: Why it matters
This is the final part of a three-part series investigating the decline of girls basketball interest and talent in Boston.
Ethan Fuller
I am a passionate young journalist who has used a love of sports — and a hunger for good stories — to write and talk about communities, people and events on local and national levels. My dedication has fueled me in leadership positions as a writer for New England Basketball Journal, The Boston Globe, BasketballNews.com and numerous media outlets.
About Me
I consider myself lucky because sports journalism helps me find inspiration anywhere and everywhere, every single day.
Athletes from all walks of life can inspire. Many, like top-ranked basketball phenom AJ Dybantsa, will do whatever it takes to reach the highest level of their craft. They're often trail-blazers, such as Graham Blanks, the first Ivy League distance runner to ever win a men's national championship. They can be beacons of hope for their communities — just look at the late Terrence Clarke's lasting impact in Boston. And some, like Jaylynn Conway-Hernandez or Ahnay Adams, have overcome obstacles most of us can't fathom.
Journalists can find inspiration without even meaning to. When I sat in the gym of the Mashpee Wampanoag Community and Government Center, amongst a devoted crowd cheering on a majority-Native girls' basketball team, I was in awe. I first reached out to the basketball team simply because they were winning; I never expected to uncover a powerful story about young leadership and a thriving Wampanoag culture.
Google the word "inspire" and you get: "to fill (someone) with the urge or ability to do or feel something, especially to do something creative."
The stories I (and we) find make me feel that indescribable appreciation and spirit. I get to use that feeling and, through storytelling, give it to others. That's so cool.
I currently write for New England Basketball Journal, a magazine and website launched in July 2024. It's a new publication that I'm extremely excited to be joining on the ground floor. New England Basketball Journal allows me to keep reporting on my local community while unpacking the complex world of amateur sports.
I previously spent more than four years at The Boston Globe, where I worked my way to larger roles since I started as a part-time high school messenger in 2019. I've written about the NBA for BasketballNews.com and CelticsBlog. I graduated Boston University in 2021 after immersing myself in Patriot League basketball and becoming co-sports director of WTBU, the student radio station.
Since committing myself to sports journalism, I've grown to understand that stories can inspire, and they can spark meaningful conversation and learning. I pursued longform pieces about why girls' basketball players in Massachusetts transfer to prep schools, how the wild world of AAU basketball affects kids, and in one of my largest projects to date, why Boston must give inner-city girls' basketball players the resources they need to thrive.
I've used social media and apps like Airr to analyze game film. I've appeared on cable TV, radio and podcasts, and I've carved out a niche as a photographer. The modern sports journalist should recognize that they can reach people through so many varieties of media and style — while still channeling the principles that got us here. I want my voice and my stories to be different and powerful as the industry continues its transformation.
Take a look at my work! I hope you feel inspired.
Notable Favorites
'Just be different than me': How Ahnay Adams — and her mom — charted a new path - New England Basketball Journal
Ahnay Adams wears No. 5 to honor 5 Morgan Terrace.
The address for her grandmother’s house is two blocks from Monte’s Park. It’s a grassy square in the middle of the South End in New Bedford, Mass., with two basketball courts that Adams frequented growing up. Monte’s Park is also known as a spot that attracts gang activity and violence.
Adams donned No. 5 throughout her prep school career at Tilton, where she won three New Hampshire Gatorade Player of the Year awards and emerged as New England’s...
Brockton’s AJ Dybantsa is taking flight, and bringing his family along for the ride - New England Basketball Journal
Chelsea Dybantsa sometimes struggles to enter her son’s room. It’s empty much of the year now, a reminder that AJ Dybantsa is far from home, chasing his basketball dreams.
The most bittersweet days for Chelsea are when Dybantsa does return to his Brockton, Mass., home. They don’t come often — he plays both high school and AAU out west — and she wants to maximize their short times together as a family.
“It actually gets harder, just because I want him to be here, and we know that there's a part o...
Terrence Clarke died three years ago. A tidal wave of elite Mass. basketball players are keeping his memory alive. - The Boston Globe
On Sept. 14, 2019, in Roxbury’s Vine Street Community Center, Clarke committed to play basketball at Kentucky . It was a coronation of sorts for Boston’s homegrown basketball celebrity, one of the top high school players in the nation.
But five years ago, Asemota was just a kid with hoop dreams, watching Terrence Clarke light the way.
Jason Asemota is one of Massachusetts’ brightest young basketball talents. A four-star wing from Lynn, Asemota just finished his senior season at Hillcrest Prep
‘A runaway train that needs structure’: A peek inside the world of youth travel basketball - The Boston Globe
Courts 16 and 17, where the best teams often play, draw the largest crowds. Parents hover along the sidelines, some sneaking glances at sweatshirts in search of a university logo. They put down $70 to watch for the weekend.
It’s the opening tipoff of the three-day Atlantic City Showcase, and each one of the 34 courts set up in the Convention Center buzzes with a game featuring girls playing in the U10 to U17 age groups. In all, the May weekend event will feature 517 teams, most having to pay a
How women’s basketball star Harmoni Turner overcame childhood trauma to shine for Harvard - The Boston Globe
For so long, Turner’s poise masked a deep-rooted insecurity, grown from childhood trauma with her biological mother, that defined much of her life. Only recently has the junior felt comfortable sharing.
Her swagger shines through in her 20.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, 4.4 assists, and 2 steals per game. It gleams when she dribbles into a sharp crossover, throws a flashy pass, or pounces on a steal. It radiates when she drills a 3-pointer and holds an ear to a roaring Crimson fan base, as she did Sat
Why are girls’ basketball stars leaving MIAA schools for NEPSAC programs? - The Boston Globe
Within weeks, Donovan had taken a visit to St. George’s School and was blown away by what the Middletown, R.I., boarding school had to offer: smaller class sizes, a sprawling coastal campus, and a highly competitive basketball environment. She transferred, reclassified to the Class of 2025, and recently finished a successful first semester.
Donovan was happy with her high school basketball success and her friends and coaches at Duxbury High. But soon after the 2021-22 season ended in March, she
‘Sacred to our tradition:’ How Mashpee girls’ basketball has embraced Wampanoag heritage and culture within the community - The Boston Globe
The Eastern Sun Singers broke into two songs: one of pride for the Mashpee community, and an honor song for Ryan Hendricks, a former Mashpee Wampanoag student-athlete who was killed in a car accident last October. The group’s verses and the thumping sounds of their center drum echoed around the Mashpee Wampanoag Community and Government Center as a crowded audience watched in reverent silence.
MASHPEE — Before the Mashpee High girls’ basketball team tipped off against Hull Friday night, the Fal
She was a Brighton girls’ basketball captain living in foster care — and a single mother. Now, she’s headed off to college. - The Boston Globe
“Busy is good for me. And I like it,” Conway said. “I’m not really overwhelmed, because once I have a schedule, I stick to the schedule.”
Her schedule is written out weeks, sometimes months, in advance. During the school year, it was the schedule of an 18-year-old Brighton High senior, a basketball team captain, an aspiring college student, a child in the foster care system, and a mother.
Jaylynn Conway-Hernandez maps out her month on a giant planner hanging on the wall next to her desk. It’s
