Girls: PG Leandra Echi is ready, willing & able
Back in April of 2014 5'8" guard Leandra Echi (Beacon '16) had the unthinkable happen to her. Playing a game at the Rose Classic in Brooklyn, NY she had her leg caught up with an opponent and she tore the ACL in her left knee.
The injury cost Echi her junior season of high school basketball, along with a full spring and summer of coaches who could've been watching her on the AAU circuit. It was devastating, but it wasn't something she was going to let her keep down for long, and during this year senior year she came back better than ever, scored her 1,000th career point and proved that she was back.
The injury was more tough mentally on her than physically she said. The rehab that she had to go through was work she knew she could handle, but Echi's main concern during the summer, fall, and winter months of 2014 was to surround herself with positivity.
"I knew there were going to be tough times so I just needed to surround myself with positive people who believed what I did, that I would come back from this," Echi said about her mindset at the time.
She says she is thankful for the fact she was surrounded by great coaches and teammates who supported her and were there for her, and the hard work she put in paid off as last summer she made her return to the court late in the AAU season, but it wasn't until the high school season in November that she said she really started to feel like herself again.
During her final season at Beacon she averaged over 20 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists a game, putting on a clinic against some of Section 1's top teams and showing that the Echi of old was back and that she could do anything post injury that could before.
The ones who still aren't so sure about that though are college coaches. He AAU coach with the Albany Lady Stars is Antwan Morrison, and while he knows that Echi is back to 100%, he says he understands that for colleges they need to be a bit more cautious at this point.
"I know she is honestly there but the offers she had before from schools like Hofstra and Rhode Island, they are still interested but they pulled back a bit because their situation is different," Morrison explained. "They need someone to come in right away but they said they aren't giving up on her and still really like her and will re-evaluate her this summer."
There are new schools involved as well according to Morrison as the new staff at UMass is very interested in Echi and she will be headed there on June 25th to take part in their Team Camp, and she also has interest from the likes of St. Francis (PA), St. Peter's, and Detroit who are the newest to join the crowd.
With the injury having cost her a year and her still trying to gather in more offers Echi has decided to do a postgrad year at Vermont Academy and reclassify into the Class of 2017, a decision she and Morrison both know will benefit her exponentially as she is already a full Division 1 qualifier and a member of the National Honor Society to go along with her impressive and versatile basketball skills.
It's now all about proving it and proving she is as good as she has ever been and that is a challenge Echi is more than ready to take on. Playing anywhere on the floor from the 1 to the 4 spots, she is ready to go and play as hard as she can to prove she is deserving of all the college attention she gets.
"I play the same as I did before because if an injury is going to happen, it's going to happen. You can't play with doubt in your mind and that is why I go out and play as hard and tough as ever," Echi said.
This spring was also her first time back at the Rose Classic, the site of her injury, and it was good to get back out on the JHS 113 court in Brooklyn, happy to be able play well there and once and for all put the injury behind her.
