Clover girls basketball standout Aylesha Wade plays with a chip on her shoulder

Clover junior basketball player Aylesha Wade doesn’t often let it show, but it’s always there.

For Wade, 17, that one thing is the proverbial chip on her shoulder. It was placed there long ago, when she was playing against boys in her family and in the recreational youth leagues — and since then, it’s only driven her to achieve a lot in her sport: whether it be playing varsity basketball by the time she was in the eighth grade, to averaging 22.6 points a game thus far this season as a Blue Eagle.

“(Playing boys basketball) put a chip on my shoulder,” she said. “All my cousins are boys, and I grew up playing with them. We were all really competitive. I was forced to step up and do what I have to do. I feel like it has propelled me.

“I play with a chip on my shoulder, and my heart on my sleeve.”

Playing up

In the seventh grade, Wade had a school counselor in Clover head girls’ basketball coach Sherer Hopkins.

Hopkins knew of Wade because she coached her older sister, Iesha.

Iesha — like Aylesha, eventually — was a captain of the Clover basketball team.

“I have always wanted to be like my sister,” Wade said. “I always wanted to play like her, if not better.”

Having talked with Hopkins as a seventh grader, Wade played on the JV squad at Clover High. And then in her eight grade year, she was called up to the varsity squad, where she played in 23 games and averaged 12 points a game.

“She leads by example,” Hopkins said. “She has become a real vocal leader.”

Hopkins said she isn’t surprised at how good of a player Wade has become — and how good of a person she is.

“She is amazing,” Hopkins said. “She is very humble and wants what is best for the team all the time. It is a lot of fun to be around her. She is a great teammate.”

‘I love a challenge’

Wade didn’t shy away from the challenge of playing against juniors and seniors, while only an eighth grader.

“I was a little nervous starting off, but I had a great support system behind me,” she said. “It forced me to grow as a player and mature my game faster. I think it helped to make me into the leader I am today.”

Despite being just a junior, Wade embraces her role as a leader for the Blue Eagles team. So far, Wade has helped to push Clover to an 8-1 record to start the season and a fourth-place ranking in the 5A state coaches’ poll.

“I love being competitive, and I love a challenge,” she said. “I love everything that comes with it, like the work you have to put in to play at the highest level. I love practice.”

One advantage Wade said she feels like she has is the amount of time she puts in the weight room. She said there aren’t many girls that are as “stocky” as she is, which allows her to play more aggressively.

“I use it to my advantage to get to the basket,” she said.

Wade’s aggressive play and hard work has endeared her to her teammates and coaches.

“Her teammates really respect her because she is one of the hardest workers on the team,” Hopkins said. “She works really hard. She studies the game. She is everything you want in a player.”

Wade already has three offers to play in college, two of them from Division I programs. She has offers from the College of Charleston, UNCC and North Greenville.

“I see myself playing somewhere,” she said. “Wherever I am blessed to play, I will go.”

Wade still has one more AAU season to go over the summer of 2020. She said she would like to have a decision made before the start of her senior season in high school.

Mac Banks: mbanks@comporium.net, @MacBanksFM