“ TREE ON THE HILL ”
Chiney Ogwumike and Andraya Carter sat at their round table speaking about Louisiana's close win over UCLA, well, that was before they stopped to check their rapidly beeping phones.
Andraya cleared her throat, “This just in, folks, UCLA’s star shooting guard Jayla Beck has entered the transfer portal.”
“So unexpected, especially after having a season that secured her spot in the rafters,” Chiney said, shaking her head.
Both reporters looked over the cameras at their producer, who was trying to tell them that Jayla had released a video saying goodbye to UCLA.
“Well, Jayla made a video explaining why she’s choosing to make this move, so we’ll let y’all enjoy this.”
The clip starts with Jayla wearing a UCLA jumper with her number underneath the letters.
“Hey guys.. I kinda don't know how to say this, but I will be entering the transfer portal.” Jayla stopped to sniffle before continuing
“I want to thank the fans and my teammates for making this experience somewhat better. Unfortunately, at UCLA, I felt as though my coaches didn’t care for me or my well-being.”
Jayla looked off camera at her MacBook, where her best friend, Kameroa, was silently supporting her with a huge smile and two thumbs up.
“At UCLA, I’ve been punished for being sick, benched for having a B in a class, whereas other players were barely passing, and continuously publicly berated. I was willing to ignore this, considering I love my teammates and the bond we’ve built, however, my breaking point has been being told that if I were to go home when my dad had a heart attack, I would have limited play time for the rest of my college career.”
Jayla stopped to pull the UCLA hoodie off. “So, trust me, this decision was carefully considered. But hey, once a bruin always a bruin.”
Chiney and Andraya’s eyes were wide with shock.
“She’s a star and didn’t deserve that treatment, but I'm sure she’ll shine brighter somewhere she's supported,” Andraya said matter-of-factly.
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AUTHORS NOTE: hi guys!!! so excited to be sharing this with you guys ( again 🥹 ) this was originally published on my wattpad which now has the same tag as my blog but at the time of tree on the hill being published my user was ANDREASARCHIVES, please don’t accuse me of stealing my own works 😭 thank you for being here, i hope yall enjoy reading this as much as i’ve enjoyed working on it!!