Leading up to the November 9 season opener vs. Army, wagnerathletics.com will conduct Q&A sessions with each of Wagner's four freshmen. The initial Q&A was with guard Jordyn Peck and now it's time to spend a few minutes with center Emily Adams.
Emily Adams
6-4 Freshman Center
Cumming, GA/ Buford
Emily Adams is a 6-4 center who played for one of Georgia's in perennial girls basketball powers in Buford High School. As a senior, Adams helped the Wolves to a 22-8 record, a berth in the AA State Finals, to the 6AA Region Title and a No. 10 ranking in the Final
MaxPreps.com Power Rating.
Nicknamed “Em,” Adams was a high school teammate of rising senior guard Kaela Davis, one of the nation's top talents, who originally verballed to Tennessee before re-opening her recruitment, as well as forward Kristina Nelson, who is a freshman at Notre Dame. Following her senior season, Adams was selected to play in the prestigious fifth annual Gwinnett Senior All-Star Basketball Game.
Adams averaged 6.7 pts per game and 5.4 rebounds per game as senior while demonstrating a smooth stroke at the free throw line where she shot 72%. One of her top outings during her senior season came vs. Decatur High School when she posted a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds.
During her junior season, Buford fashioned a 29-3 record, highlighted by a 16-1 mark in the Class 6-AA Division while copping the 6-AA Region Championship.
“A tremendous student, Adams is interested in pursuing a career in the medical field. She has one sibling, a brother named Kelly (26).
Why did you decide to come to Wagner?
“I really liked Wagner from the academic standpoint, the student to teacher ratio is really small. Other than the academics, I really liked the city and the girls on the team.”
How would you describe you experience with Coach Cermignano and her staff during these first few months together?
“It's been a really great experience. They have such positive attitudes. I've never been in a school with coaches like this. They are just so positive and excited to be here and they're also fun to be around. They know when to be serious and they know when to be fun and that's something that I don't see in many coaching staffs.”
What are some of the places and sites that you've been to in your short time here in New York?
“As a team, we went to the 9/11 Memorial and it's so strong and overwhelming and I don't even know anybody who was directly impacted by the attacks. For it to be that overwhelming for me, someone who was so young and so distant from it, I can't imagine how powerful it is for people who were directly involved. We've also been to Ellis Island. I'd heard about it in history books but actually seeing it was pretty cool and the Statue of Liberty too. Being from the south, everything about New York just seems kind of unrealistic but once you're standing there, under the Statue of Liberty, everything becomes realistic.”
“Central Park was pretty cool because I saw it on Stuart Little when I was a child. And then being on the bridge that Stuart Little's boat went under, that was very cool.”
Do you know what major that you plan to pursue here at Wagner?
“I'm leaning towards nursing. I know it's a tough junior year but I'm pretty sure that I'll be able to do it. The nursing program is definitely where I want to be and that's what I hope to do. Right now, I'm just doing my general education classes to get there. “
How are you finding the classes here at Wagner and what are they like?
“I like the classes. I went to a small high school so the classes were pretty small just like they are here. They always tell you that when you get to college your professors don't really care about you but I don't see that at Wagner. My professors are very respectful of the students and help us out as much as they can. So, to me, it's just different than what a lot of people think. “
What were your first impressions when you came to Wagner on your official visit?
“Being from the south, we always see New York and picture Manhattan and I didn't realize there could be an area with such nature and scenery, so it was just shocking to see that you could be in New York City but not really feel like it.”
Describe for Seahawk fans what your hometown of Cumming, GA (population 5,400) is like and how is it different than Staten Island?
“Cumming, GA is just north of Atlanta but it's not like a city at all. I didn't grow up on a farm but you pass farms getting to our house. It's a lot smaller than around here but you don't really walk anywhere, there is no mass transportation. One of the biggest themes is the amount you drive. I'm used to driving everywhere at home and here, I drive like twice a month. So, that's one of the biggest differences. I drive a couple hours a day in Cumming, GA and here I don't really drive, ever.”
How far is the drive from your home to your high school in Buford, GA?
“It was about a 35-minute drive away from my house to Buford High School. I'd go about five to 10 miles on the highway, then on some back roads. I had to go over a dam on the lake. It's a drive that was more back roads than highways, that's for sure.”
As far as basketball goes, how is your transition from a top high school program to Division I going so far?
“A lot of the basketball concepts we did in high school and conditioning are similar. But, we never did it at this intensity level for this amount of days. We would do this, maybe two or three, times a week but not every weekday. So, the amount of stuff we do is different but being from a really good high school program with a really good coach, I'm not completely lost when it comes to the basketball aspects.”
