“Destiny Adams is just a once-in-a-lifetime athlete. She handles the ball against the press, she can make threes, she jumps out of the gym. She’s impossible to guard,” said Joe Montano, head coach at the Red Bank High School. Stepping into her senior year at Rutgers, Destiny Adams is blazing thunder on the court.

After spending two years at North Carolina, Adams committed to play at Rutgers women’s basketball team when she got out of the transfer portal. Since then, she has been able to come out of her shell and score big. Now, emerging as one of the best talents in the college, she is dominating the floor with her mesmerizing moves. Let’s explore how her life has revolved around basketball through these years.

Meet Destiny Adams and her beginnings as a hooper

There exist several instances where college basketball student-athletes have athletic parents who played during their days. However, in Destiny Adams’ case, things have been a bit different. She attended Manchester Township High School where her father, Dennis served as the principal.

Having her potential unleashed in high school, Adams could defend in all 5 positions on the floor and would easily knock down the jumper to the arc. She also developed her game to a level where she would execute shots in transition.

In her sophomore season, she put her 6-foot-3 frame to better use and averaged 14.7 points, 7.1 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 2.3 blocks per game. Then as a junior, she put out a double-double average with 18.1 points, 11.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 2.4 blocks per game. As a senior, she grew her scoring to an average of 30.1 points along with 18.7 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 2.5 blocks per game.

She tallied her varsity career amassing 2,010 points (all-time leading scorer), 1,176 rebounds, 262 blocks, 258 assists, and 232 steals through 4 years. She led her high school basketball team to their first-ever Shore Conference and State titles.

Besides all this, the Manchester star won several accolades there as well. In 2019, she earned All-Conference and Second Team All-State honors after she led the Manchester Township to a New Jersey State Championship.

After tallying 19 double-doubles in 2020, she was named the Shore Conference Player of the Year that season. In 2020-21, she became the first-ever player from her high school to be presented with the Gatorade New Jersey Girls Basketball Player of the Year.

She ranked 20th in the ESPNW Class of 2021 and was named to the Jordan Brand Classic 2021 Girls National Team and the 2021 McDonald’s All-American Girls Team. Thereafter, she committed to play for the North Carolina Tar Heels.

Adams’ scoring struggles at the UNC

Destiny Adams embarked on her college basketball journey slowly as she put out a low average of 3 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 0.3 assists and blocks apiece per game. Similarly, in her sophomore season with the Tar Heels, Adams averaged 4.1 points, 7.9 rebounds, 0.5 assists and 0.8 blocks per game.

However, her scoring dry spell ended when she decided to transfer to Rutgers. As a junior, she put out the second-best performance on the team with an average of 15.6 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game. Besides, her off-court life was rewarding as with her transfer being closer to her family was just what the doctor ordered. “It really is different coming back and I really appreciate it. I’m really close with my family, they’re all my best friends, so being able to go home on an off day and spend time on the couch with my parents and have a home-cooked meal – I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Having a support system at every game is really key for me and I’m just happy to be back,” Adams reasoned.

On the other hand, Destiny Adams’ father also acknowledged the positive change in his daughter’s game and attributed it to the coaching culture at Rutgers. He said, “I think it’s been a great experience for her because of the coaching staff at Rutgers.”

So, whenever her parents weren’t in Indiana supporting her brother, they were not so far from a Rutgers home game. “It’s great that she’s close to home and we get to see her at home games, but it’s nice to see her get back into the player she was before she went to college. She’s a lot more comfortable, loves her teammates, loves the Rutgers experience and I just love being part of it,” he added.

Now, only a handful of games into her senior season at Rutgers, Adams is averaging 28 points, 14 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.5 blocks per game.

Through all the ups and downs, Destiny Adams eventually found her rhythm and basketball mojo back, which led her to college basketball greatness.