Quiet Strength, Loud Impact: The Steady Rise of Ariel Atkins
It’s funny how, as much as things change, some things do not. On a 2019 Instagram post,
Ariel Atkins described her younger self as a “quiet, lanky, determined kid.” She still moves
through life much like she commands the court—calm, deliberate, and always in control. Off the
floor, there’s an almost Zen-like serenity about her: she rarely seeks the spotlight, preferring
quiet consistency to flashy statements. The only shift? She is now a WNBA champion, an
Olympian, and a vocal leader in one of the best sports leagues in the world.
It was a long road to get there though, starting in her hometown of Duncanville, Texas. A
teacher at Atkins’ elementary school saw her potential in basketball very early. At five years old,
to be exact. “I would probably say like it was my kindergarten coach,” she said when asked how
she got her start in the game. For her formative years, basketball was what it is for most kids: a
way to have fun, exercise, and to meet new friends. Atkins is known to be humble, so it is not
surprising that those around her saw something in her she did not see in herself until way later.
“I feel like a lot of people would say we knew earlier, but I personally, honestly didn’t
know up until high school, that I was pretty good at it,” she admits. “But I think the biggest thing
about it was that I just felt myself getting better. I think I didn’t necessarily know if I was just
like, I’m just good at basketball, but I did feel myself progressing.”
She credits her high school varsity coach and fellow UT-Austin alum, Cathy Self-
Morgan, as someone who not only taught her the X’s and O’s but also showed her what it meant
to care for young women beyond the court. When asked about Self-Morgan, Atkins seemed
overcome with gratitude and emotion.
“I could talk about [her impact] all day…I think the biggest thing about Coach Self is she
cares about young women at the core of who she is. I think that was the biggest thing that she
preached to us is about being independent young women, but also being appreciative of the
things that have been given to us, and going out and doing what we need to do and being great.”
Self encouraging Atkins to be great is an understatement; the guard graduated from
Duncanville High School with two state championships in her sophomore and junior seasons.
She was part of a legacy that amassed an incredible 105-game winning streak from December
2011 to February 2014, in addition to a myriad of personal accolades. But when asked about her
favorite moment with her high school coach, she did not mention the championships or eighty-
point blowouts.
“At basketball every day for the four years that I played for her, there was never a day
that she wasn’t waiting at the door for every single one of us to come from class to the locker
room to go to practice. She met every single player at the door every single day for literally four
years straight.”
What stuck with her most from her time playing in red and blue went far beyond the
scoreboard: “A lot of people talk about how you learn to be a pro in college. I really learned how
to be a pro coach. She taught me how to be selfless…she taught me how to be organized, but she
also taught me to never back down, to be tough, and to believe in who I am as a person. I
honestly credit a lot of my mental toughness and my approach to the game to her — she taught
me so much.”
Before she became a standout at Texas, Atkins had dozens of options for college — but
her heart never wavered far from home. Family ties and a deep sense of Lonestar state pride
shaped her decision long before she ever stepped onto the Forty Acres.
“I felt like Texas had the best of both worlds — a world-class education and a world-class
athletic program. It wasn’t too far for my family to visit me, and I’m a Texas kid who wanted to
stay in Texas. I didn’t really take a lot of other visits because I knew I didn’t want to go out of
state. I wanted [my family] to be able to drive to see me instead of having to take a flight.”
Atkins’ first year in burnt orange and white was solid: she averaged 9.7 points, 3.4
rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 1.2 steals per game while logging nearly 24 minutes on the court each
contest. Her impressive all-around play earned her Big 12 All-Freshman honors, signaling her as
a rising talent in college basketball.
Her main adjustments had to be made off the floor. The diversity of a college team that
recruited nationally was a culture shock, vastly different from the demographics of Duncanville.
“Duncanville is a small town and all my classmates, teammates, we all lived around the
same city. So, when I [was] at UT, it was different.
You had a lot of people from a lot of
different backgrounds, which I necessarily wasn’t used to. I played on the same AAU team since
I was seven. So, I was just used to being around the same type of people. I think my transition to
UT was a little tough in the sense of I was away from family.”
Atkins began to make a national name for herself at UT as a defensive stopper, but before
she wore a Texas uniform or guarded the best scorers in the WNBA, defense was always a
priority. That tenacity started at home and was sharpened by every coach who demanded she
play fearless and tough. Today, it’s the same grit and relentless energy that have made her one of
the league’s most respected perimeter defenders, someone teammates trust to guard the best
player on the floor when it matters most.
Defense was a chess match for Atkins and was not just about stopping the other team
from scoring; it fueled other aspects of the game, too. “We didn’t want to have to take shots, we
didnt want to have to use screens. We wanted to shoot layups, and that came from defense to get
steals.” This matched a Coach Karen Aston’s high energy and up-tempo style of play she was
known for while coaching in Austin.
“All of the coaches as a whole, that was something that they really preached about us is
that we wanted to be the hardest working team on the floor, and we wanted to push ourselves on
a day in and day out…[mindset of] there’s nobody in the country working harder than us. There
are probably teams that were better than us. But I think that we were really in practice grinding
and out every day.”
Atkins left UT with her name firmly etched in the record books, graduating as one of the
program’s all-time leaders in steals, games played, and defensive impact — a legacy that
eventually transferred over to the WNBA.
“Tactically, it’s always the same when you move up levels — the pace changes, the speed
of the game changes, and then there’s the physicality, which is a whole different thing. The
physicality is not something anybody can really prepare you for — you’re getting hit, getting
knocked upside the head a little bit. Honestly, my first two years, even now, I’m still working on
getting over and under screens. My first two years, I ran into every screen possible,” she laughed.
“I went from being kind of a go-to option in college to run corner to corner and being open on a
kick-out or being open if somebody helps down [low]…”
She cites her teammates helping her with the pro transition and how they encouraged her
to be herself. Additionally, Atkins also found a mentor who shaped her game in a new way in
Washington — longtime Mystics head coach Mike Thibault, known around the league as one of
the great basketball minds.
“I mean, he’s like the coaches of all coaches. I pretty much would kind of compare him to
my [high school] coach. For me, he just taught me a lot about the game and just seeing the little
nuances of it. His ability to hype you up or calm you down was huge for me. I’m sort of an
over-thinker sometimes, so he was good at just being like, ‘Hey, this is what it is…’ He was just
phenomenal coach, to be honest.”
She left the Mystics as a WNBA champion and an Olympian — and now in Chicago,
Atkins is carrying that same fearless edge and proven pedigree to a new locker room determined
to make its mark. Her confidence, once quiet and reserved, has grown into something bigger than
her stat line. When she stood beside rookie Angel Reese in a press conference, defending her
teammate against critics, she showed that her leadership isn’t just on the court — it’s at the
microphone, too.
“I just enjoy it because so many people have poured into me, so many people have given
me so much knowledge and joy and like love when it comes to this game. And so, I love just
passing it on as much as I can, but also just getting to know them and getting to know our team,
to make sure that the things that I give them are not only good for them, but it also actually helps
us move forward.”
Atkins is still that quiet, determined kid at heart — but now her game, her voice, and her
presence speak volumes. She’s proof that you don’t have to be loud to lead, but you do have to
stand firm. And wherever her career takes her next, one thing is certain: Ariel Atkins will keep
showing up, ready to do the work — calmly, deliberately, and always in control.
