As freshmen make their way into a program – new to the routine, new to the expectations, new to the game – it’s not often the case that they find their footing right away. Even more rare are those who quickly become comfortable enough to take the lead by the time the season starts. But at Alabama, that’s just what the newest professors, also known as the Alabama University Class of 2030, did.
For head coach Ashley Johnston, who took over the program in 2022 after successful stints coaching at Illinois and Auburn, and associate head coach Justin Spring, who joined Johnston in 2022 as an assistant coach before becoming an associate head coach in 2024, this class is something truly special. Even though it’s the second class that they as a staff have recruited, it’s the first one where they were able to enumerate exactly what they wanted and recruit based on their team culture, values, and philosophy, “to speak clearly about who we are, where we’re going, what that was going to look like, and [this freshman class] were the humans that were most in alignment with that.” So it was no surprise to the pair when the freshman showed up on campus, ready to keep building on what the program stood for.
Make no mistake, the chemistry at Alabama isn’t one-sided; the team quickly melded. For the upperclassman, “they didn’t sign up for us, but they got us,” Johnston points out, but you’d never have been able to tell.
The moment the new athletes found home and a sense of belonging happened early in their time in Tuscaloosa. Though the first meet was at Clemson, Jasmine Cawley, McKenzie Matters, and Azaraya Ra-Akbar all agreed that it was pre-season where the magic really started, and where the upperclassmen showed them the ropes, and without knowing, made the space for this incoming class to be themselves, unapologetically.
Spring was pleasantly surprised by the natural leadership qualities of one of the standouts, Ra-Akbar. “I remember the first week I walked in, and I went, ‘Is this new? How long has this been happening?’ Meanwhile, [Akbar] is in the circle, saying, ‘Are you ready to do this?’ Who does that as a freshman?”
It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that Ra-Akbar was named SEC Freshman of the Year this season. The first for Alabama since 1999.
Though Ra-Akbar was the one speaking, it was clear that the sense of empowerment she felt wouldn’t have been possible without the likes of Gabby Gladieux and Rachel Rybicki, who helped pave the way for incoming classes to be authentically themselves because they don’t know any other way in this program.
The result? The A on their leos stands not only for Alabama but for their A’s in team chemistry. For Johnston and Spring, the moment that made it clear that something special was happening occurred on the bus ride home from Auburn. The coaches were working away in the first two rows, and the rest of the team was right behind them – literally. Wanting to hang out. “We were trying to get work done, but then I had to pause and think, this is really special,” Johnston remarked.
The team knows what to do, knows how to be great; the coaches agree, and, realizing this, stepped back and gave them not only the space but the voice to be the leaders they are. Because the best way to let them do all that and do it well? “Shut up and listen,” says Johnston.
READ THIS NEXT: The Oregon State Sisters Are Doing It for Their Little Selves
Article by Allison Freeman
