Manchester's Adams Signs To Play Basketball At North Carolina
MANCHESTER, NJ — Manchester Township senior Destiny Adams has signed a national letter of intent to attend the University of North Carolina, where she will continue her academic pursuits and play for the Tar Heels' basketball team.
The letter of intent finalized the commitment she made to UNC in April 2020, after her junior season ended when the NJSIAA state playoffs were halted because of the coronavirus pandemic. Adams averaged 18 points and 11.7 rebounds a game and scored her 1,000th point during her junior season, as the Hawks won a sectional championship. As a sophomore, she helped Manchester win the Shore Conference championship and the state Group 2 championship.
Read more about Adams' career and commitment in this piece by Nick Jensen, assistant editor of the Talon 2.0, Manchester High School's student newspaper. It is published with permission from Jensen and the Manchester Township Schools.
On July 8, 2010, the entirety of the basketball universe was locked in to ESPN for the long awaited “Decision” by Lebron James. As Jim Gray mentioned during the interview, fans were on pins and needles just wondering for months, where was Lebron going to end up? For the town of Manchester, Destiny Adams is our Lebron James, except she didn’t decide to take her talents to South Beach. Instead, she decided she would take her talents to the University of North Carolina.
It wasn’t a matter of if Destiny would commit to a Division 1 school, but when. Pretty much since the day she woke up to play her first high school basketball game, many fans, colleagues, and teachers speculated about where she might end up going to college. Anyone who heard and glimpsed even a sprinkle of what Adams can do on the court, knew that if she stayed healthy for most of her high school career they might as well chalk it up to death, taxes, and Destiny Adams commiting to a D1 school.
Back in April of 2020, just weeks after her sparkling junior season was cut short due to COVID-19, Adams announced the biggest news of her life: Her verbal commitment to UNC. Unlike Lebron James, nobody burnt Destiny Adams jerseys to ash, but instead, everyone was beyond ecstatic for her and I can imagine many 2021 Manchester alumni will be heading to the UNC shop and purchasing themselves a jersey with Destiny’s number 20 come Winter 2021.
Realistically, Adams could have chosen to bless almost any top-notch women’s collegiate basketball program with her breathtaking talents, but she chose UNC. “The coaching staff really stood out to me when I picked UNC … choosing a school where I feel comfortable and at home was a big factor in my decision making process,” Adams said. It wasn’t just the coaching staff that stood out to Adams. She also mentioned how family-oriented UNC is, her coaches introduced all the players already so they can get to know each other far before they step onto the court and compete for championships together.
Out of everyone waiting to see Destiny take the next big step in her starblazing career, no one on the face of the Earth was more prepared than Miss Adams herself. “When I was younger it was always a dream of mine to go D1 so I just worked for it… I never knew what I was truly capable of but as I got older I knew if I kept working I would be able to achieve my goals.” Adams explained that she is more than excited for a new challenge. She is ready to start over, be independent, and make new friends and memories.
Many people who get an opportunity like this may be a bit anxious, whether about the pressure, or just being in a different environment than their usual comfort zone, but because of Destiny’s rare talent mixed with her one of a kind personality, she is not nervous at all. “I know it will be new and something to get used to but I know it will all work itself out.”
When mentioning the University of North Carolina, it is hard not to think of the man who many believe to be the greatest basketball player to ever breath air, Michael Jordan. Adams described the opportunity of getting to play on the same court that his Airness once did: “Michael Jordan is a legend and just to be going to the same school as him is crazy. But I am just really blessed to have this opportunity, it feels so surreal.”
Adams doesn’t want to be just another girl on a D1 team, she wants to come right into UNC and leave her own mark as well, “I needed to go somewhere where I felt I could play … I needed to find a program that was fit to my style of play where I would fit in and help change the program.”
With Destiny’s talents the sky's the limit for how she can impact the basketball world at UNC, who knows, maybe one day another D1 commit will be asked what it will be like to grace the same court as the great Destiny Adams.
Destiny Adams still has one more year left in a Hawks uniform and one more shot at her goals of reaching two thousand points, on top of her plans to win all she can this season with her team. Adams expressed (as a whole) what she will miss about Manchester, “I loved it here and I will miss being with my friends everyday, passing my dad in the halls and going to visit him in his office. I will also miss the family bond and amazing chemistry I have with the basketball team. It will be very hard to leave Manchester but I know it will always be my home.”
Manchester indeed will be Destiny’s home forever, and no one will ever forget what she did for this school. Destiny Adams will go down as more than a basketball player, I don’t think anyone can deny how special she has been for the town of Manchester, leading the core years of the Lady Hawks, and bringing everyone in Manchester together. I believe we take for granted just how lucky we have been to witness the growth of an athlete like Adams because they don’t come around all that often.
She says she will miss Manchester but I believe Manchester might miss Destiny Adams a little more… Congratulations Destiny, and good luck at UNC!
This article originally appeared on the Manchester Patch
