East Lansing's Aaliyah Nye is Division 1 Player of the Year

Aaliyah Nye didn't have any specific aspirations when she arrived in the East Lansing girls basketball program as a freshman.

All she cared about then was just being on the court and playing.

But a sophomore year when Nye emerged as a standout while helping the Trojans to a state runner-up finish altered that outlook.

"My freshman year I was just going with the flow and playing basketball, and then I got into AAU," Nye said. "My sophomore year, I definitely realized that I can take this really serious and I can have a future playing basketball in college."

Nye turned herself into one of the state's best players and capped her standout high school career by being named The Associated Press Division 1 Player of the Year.

Nye, who is signed to continue her career in the Big Ten at Illinois, earns the honor after averaging 16.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.7 steals and making 56 3-pointers for a top-ranked East Lansing squad that was 23-1 and set to play for a regional title when the Michigan High School Athletic Association state tournament was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic.

"Aaliyah is a team-first player," East Lansing coach Rob Smith said. "She's been given many, many natural gifts physically, and she's able to do some very special things on the court. She's very unselfish and she cares a great deal about her teammates. She's a very kind and gentle type of kid.

"She competes, and she finds different ways to help the team — whatever is needed.”

Nye, the state's Miss Basketball runner-up and a repeat Division 1 first-team All-State selection, has scored 1,370 points while helping East Lansing to a 90-8 mark during her career. She is one of eight players in program history who have surpassed 1,000 points.

Smith said Nye's shot and defensive skills were two of her biggest attributes that helped the Trojans thrive.

"Aaliyah has a beautiful shot," Smith said. "We've had a lot of good shooters come out of East Lansing and none better than her. She has a great jump shot, a great 3-point shot and she's a very flexible defender. She can guard anyone. That's what's so special about her and will help her at the next level as she's able to guard a multitude of players.”

Joining Nye on the first team are Whitney Sollom of Hartland, Cheyenne McEvans of Southfield A&T, Kailee Davis of Detroit Renaissance, Alanna Micheaux of Wayne Memorial, Jillian Brown of East Grand Rapids, Ally VanTimmeren of Jenison, Lauren Ross of Muskegon Reeths-Puffer, Arieonna Ware of Battle Creek Central and Aaliyah McQueen of Flint Carman-Ainsworth.

Battle Creek Central's Tony Warren was voted the Division 1 Coach of the Year.

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