By Graham Metzker
EUGENE, OR. – Jennah Isai is only eighteen years old, but she was built for the bright lights of a basketball arena.
Even before she was a player for the storied University of Oregon women’s basketball team. Even before she was awarded the 2022 Gatorade Player of the Year award for Arizona high school basketball. Even before showing up on courts surrounded by the circuit of sports journalists and college and professional scouts, Isai was making a name for herself.
Instead, Isai’s journey to stardom started more than four years ago on May 7, 2018, because on that date, a YouTube video with the title “8th GRADE GIRL has ARIZONA OFFER – Jennah Isai dominates at EBC Arizona Camp” was posted.
The video is one minute and 53 seconds of utter Isai domination: spin moves past defenders, euro-step dribble moves to open up an easy layup and plenty of basketball’s swish-ing through the net. The best part about the video? Isai is the only girl on the court, yet by far the most talented player.
“Everyone wants to go at you, so it makes you get better,” Isai said, reflecting on her eighth-grade dominance. “The video got so popular mainly because I was playing with all boys, but it was fun getting to go against good competition.”
With her fantastic entry into the basketball world, and her current standing as a constant contributor to the 2022-23 Ducks squad, it’s easy to assume Isai’s ascension to college ball was seamless. But the 4 ½ years in between then and now involved plenty of heartbreak for Isai.
At her hometown high school of Valley Vista in Surprise, Arizona, Isai suffered four major injuries in four successive seasons: first a high ankle sprain, followed by a torn anterior cruciate ligament in her knee, a torn meniscus, and a sprained acromioclavicular joint in her shoulder.
Because of the injuries and missed time, Arizona’s CBS 5 sports anchor Nick King didn’t get to see Isai until her senior year. But once he saw Isai’s skills, King couldn’t look away.
“I wanted to do a profile on her and typically with those types of things, doing a profile of a high school student, I'll go to one game and maybe one practice at the most,” said King. “I probably ended up going into like four or five different games before I put the story together because I wanted to see what she did next. It was about as much fun as I've ever had watching a high school basketball player.”
When asked what makes Isai stand out on the court, King listed off attributes any coach would salivate over: well-rounded, tall, shot-blocker, pocket-picker, able to lay up the ball with both hands and a calm attitude with the ball in her hands.
Isai’s complete basketball game comes from working overtime in the gym. Greg Gilman, a player development coach in Phoenix, saw Isai bring her A-game to practice from the get-go.
“If you want the best out of Jennah, you have to challenge her, because she’ll find a way to respond,” said Gilman. “She’s absolutely fearless, and she loves competition. She loves being challenged or even doubted, and she feeds off of it.”
On the court, it’s clear that Isai means business. Gilman claims Isai puts on a mean mug that doesn’t leave her face over the span of four quarters. But off the court Isai is more likely to greet with a big smile, teeth showing from ear to ear. She’s the worst enemy of defenders in basketball, but a happy and bubbly personality in her free time.
Directly after a backbreaking two-hour practice battling against her Duck teammates, Isai was immediately able to sit down and laugh about how unkind Oregon’s winters are compared to Arizona’s. She joked that her large puffer jacket hasn’t left her side in weeks, while fellow Arizona-native teammates Taya Hanson and Kennedy Basham have bonded in the damp and frigid Eugene climate together.
Isai’s warm personal nature fits perfectly with that of Oregon women’s basketball head coach Kelly Graves. Sharing the same face-filling smile, Graves and Isai bonded immediately during Isai’s first visit to Oregon’s campus – and it ended up being all Isai needed to see.
It wasn’t the Nike swag that pushed Isai over the top for Oregon. Instead, it was Graves’ commitment to watching her game despite the major injuries. It meant a lot to Isai, whose tumultuous times in high school extended beyond injuries.
Outside of her back-to-back Arizona 6A championships, Isai also has a Nike EYBL National Championship ring on her finger as a part of the Ionescu Elite Cal Stars team. Isai says that she’s gotten a few chances to talk with the team’s namesake, New York Liberty all-star Sabrina Ionsecu, as a part of the Ducks.
The Ionescu Elite team was loaded with talent, notably ESPN five-star prospect and current UCLA freshman Gabriela Jacquez. Isai says that she stays in contact with Jacquez, and that the team had a special connection. But she admitted, nothing compares to the current Ducks squad she’s on.
“We already have a really good connection like everybody on the team so that's been really cool because not a lot of teams are like that,” Isai said of the Ducks team that features four freshmen. “Yeah, it's weird. We just all bounce off each other really good.”
All the hardships and success put aside, Isai is still at the tip of the iceberg in her career. She’s played at least 15 minutes in every Ducks’ game this season, averaging 10.5 points. For Isai, nothing but the best will do. When asked who she models her basketball style after, Isai went straight to the greatest of all time.
“My favorite player is Michael Jordan. That’s where I get the 2-3 on my jersey.”