NBA Academy India's Ann Mary Zachariah to play for Colorado State University in US college basketball

NBA Academy India's Ann Mary Zachariah to play for Colorado State University in US college basketbal (Image Source: Google)

The NBA Academy India Women's Program Alumnus Ann Mary Zachariah has committed to play for Colorado State University in NCAA Division 1 college basketball.

The Kerala native has thus become the fourth player overall from NBA Academy India to earn a Division I basketball scholarship, joining Sanjana Ramesh (Northern Arizona), Harsimran Kaur (San Diego) on the women's side, and Amaan Sandhu (Monmouth Hawks) on the men's side.

Ann Mary Zachariah joins the Colorado State University at the centre position, standing at"6'3". She will play D-1 NCAA basketball in the Mountain West Conference under head coach Ryun Williams.

Ann Mary was a part of the Reliance Foundation Junior NBA program, a comprehensive youth development initiative that aims to develop basketball at the grassroots level and commitment towards the holistic growth of children through active participation in sports. In 2015, Ann Mary was identified as a top prospect, a critical juncture in her sporting career.

Thereafter, she participated in three NBA-led basketball development programs before playing stateside. She has been playing basketball in the United States since the start of 2020 when she committed to Life Prep Academy in Wichita, Kansas. Thereafter, she joined Howard Junior College in Big Spring, Texas.

While at Howard Junior, Ann Mary averaged 15.4 points per game in her first collegiate season while shooting 40.2 per cent and pulling down 10.4 rebounds per contest. She also recorded nine games with 20+ points, including a career-high 37 on 14-for-22 shooting. With her dominating performances on the court, she was named the WJCAC Women's Basketball Freshman of the Year and to the All-Conference Team.

In 2018, Ann Mary participated in Basketball Without Borders Asia and has participated in multiple NBA Academy Women's Program camps in India from 2017-2019. In one of these camps, she won the Coaches Award. She also represented India in two junior FIBA tournaments - U16 Women's Asian Championship 2017 and U18 Women's Asian Championship 2018 and was a participant in the NCAA's Next Generation program at the Women's Final Four in Tampa.