WBB: In era of portal madness, Uhrich shows uncommon loyalty despite a pair of tough seasons
Thunderbirds standout Uhrich stays in Cedar City, looking to take a young Southern Utah side back to a national postseason tournament and WAC championships after two years away
After winning the 2023 WAC regular season and tournament titles things haven’t been easy for Southern Utah’s women’s basketball team.
In 2024 the Thunderbirds needed a last day of the regular season win at home to earn a WAC tournament berth before falling in an opening round game against UT Arlington. A season later they won five of their last six regular season contests to bypass the play-in game, hosted by Utah Tech, and go straight to Las Vegas before falling to Tarleton State in another opening round game.
With players bolting for the transfer portal at a near astronomical rate it’s refreshing to see stars stay home instead of bolting for greener pastures when things get tough.
Ava Uhrich, Southern Utah’s most experienced returner on this year’s team with 56 career starts and averaging just under 12 points per game over 58 games played, is one of those. She’s coming back for a third year in Cedar City, looking to get things going in the right direction with a young cast, featuring one lone senior, that has one last year in the WAC before the Thunderbirds make a July 2026 return to the Big Sky…
“A lot of people have asked me why I’ve stayed despite the struggles and it’s because of Tracy (Mason) and her staff and this community,” Uhrich said in an upcoming episode of the Straight Outta WAC podcast. “Cedar City has become a second home to me and this program has become a family. Since I’ve been here the transfer rate has been really low and it’s been that way because of the family we’ve built here.”
Sports are supposed to be a teacher of life lessons. One of those lessons is perseverance and sticking with things when they perhaps aren’t going your way.
“I’ve always been a big loyalty person and that was ingrained in me from an early age by my parents throughout high school and travel ball,” Uhrich added. “I get that sometimes you have to be selfish but there’s more to this than winning, and I love to win as much as the next person. I love the fact that I’m somewhere where I can go into the office if I’m having a bad day or there’s something going on in my life outside of basketball and talk things out with our coaches. That’s something not everybody gets across the college basketball landscape.”
When prospective student-athletes visit Cedar City and Southern Utah, Uhrich hopes that they see a community that supports them on and off the floor.
“What you see is what you get here and that’s good people,” she said. “The same people and community I met on my visit are the same people and community who have supported and cared about all of us these last two years through thick and thin…they haven’t changed a bit.”
In 60 days they’ll open the season at home in front of that same community that will be there for their team no matter how things go on the floor.