Single mom from Arizona, Monica Durazo is raising the sweetest, most fierce unicorn of a person and player in her daughter, Alyssa Durazo-Frescas. This kid is more than just a cold blooded killa on the court, she’s one of the coolest kids you’ll ever meet.
Alyssa stands 5-8, and is a high achieving academic junior at the nationally respected Mater Dei girls basketball program, that dopest of spots where Kobe dropped in last season to offer a talk to the girls team.
How dope a player is she E-Woods? She’s off the freaking charts in terms of being personable, along with her ambition, values, character, and b-ball ability.
Personality wise, Alyssa reminds me so much of my guy Shareef O’Neal of UCLA, not just because I believe she’ll be high major player like Reef is.
No, what puts both Reef and Alyssa in a class of their own is their easy confidence around others. Being perfectionists they’re hungry to leave their mark, they’re both joyful teenagers that eat life up voraciously.
What’s also remarkable about Reef and Alyssa? They’ve earned the utter love and respect of their teammates. I’ve asked many of those teammates so I know it’s true.
This story also aims to pay homage to Alyssa’s crazy cool, athletic and professional mom Monica. I’m so utterly blessed to know her and Alyssa. I feel they share the purest, sweetest, and most supportive love a mom and daughter can share together.
Real talk? Seeing their joy, it had this magical unicorn effect on me, thus the unicorn reference in the subject title.
Seeing them be so close was therapy for E-Woods. It was like Pulitzer Prize winning rapper Kendrick Lamar used his recording of good kid, m.a.a.d. city to get past rough experiences. The pure joy I had meeting and witnessing Alyssa and Monica’s bond helped me forget a bad experience.
Let me explain. Rewind to 1982, lil E-Woods is 11 years old. I had 2 parakeets that were everything to each other, living in my room. Unexpectedly, while I was gone my parents let their friend’s kid Doug play in my room.
Doug took a stick and beat to death my green parakeet Tickles. My purple parakeet Pickles, although physically untouched, fretted and twitched from being separated by its lifetime companion. It just looked depressed for 3 straight days before it fell over dead. Its heart stopped beating, literally heart-broken by the loneliness. That has bothered me ever since in a deep level.
But the day I met Alyssa and her beyond dope and happening mom Monica, the sadness, the occasional nightmares from that incident were gone, poof, in an instant. Feel me? Only good vibes I’m feeling going forward!
Back to Alyssa. She’s such a rare talent that she’s this unicorn on-court that AMAZES. I asked her what the world needed to know about why she’s such an advanced player, that classy girl all rolled into one. She told me, “The way I play and try to conduct myself, the person I’ve become, it’s not by accident.
“There was a blueprint for me and the credit goes to my incredible mom Monica. I want to be just like her. She’s so caring, joyful, athletic and professional, everything I want to be. She’s a single mom and has been there for me every second of my life.
“I’ve been inspired by watching her run 30 mile marathons. Ever since kindergarten, we’ve lived here in Cali. The transition went well in Orange County, she’s done whatever it took for me to achieve and succeed, make it to a great place like Mater Dei.
“We take a lot of pride in Mater Dei because that was my dream. She’s constantly sacrificing everything to support me, always cheering me on at every one of my games. Whether that’s in Chicago, Indiana, or Hawaii, she’s always been by my side.
“She even has to limit dating, because her whole schedule is arranged around supporting me, in every way possible. The least I can do is follow her role modeling, make her proud, and get a scholarship to college.”
I’ve noticed about Alyssa’s game, as many others have, that she has so much talent, especially because she shoots the ball extremely well. It’s a gift for the ages. Alyssa also is a natural born leader with swag.
I’ll offer an example that her Mater Dei coach Kevin Kiernan would appreciate. He’s not only a cool guy but the biggest Boston Celtics fan you can find. Alyssa lights it up like Larry Bird used to light it up in the 80s on court.
She uses that J to burn down every defender who steps up to her crew. When Alyssa is rolling, burying shots from deep, the moment it leaves her hand I feel goose bumps. It’s like when I hear Adele’s song Rolling In The Deep, there’s no other shooter that inspires me so, so much.
So go out and judge for yourself. These Adele lyrics inspire me and Alyssa is music personified. She combines her symphony with her prep and AAU teammates. Feel Adele’s lyrics:
“There's a fire starting in my heart
Reaching a fever pitch and it's bringing me out the dark.”
Why is Alyssa’s shot so great? She has these immaculate mechanics, feel for the ball, this motion in her groove of shooting, and her incredible raw strength powers this crazy range that even a WNBA, or NBA player would envy.
Alyssa’s outside shot? It’s a thing of beauty unto itself, as she demoralizes defense after defense when she pulls up from “the parking lot” at half court. That’s like a routine thing for this proud Mater Dei Monarch and AAU West Coast Premiere player. She’s so very proud to be a part of both organizations.
Alyssa appreciates her West Coast Premier club coaches Brian Crichlow and Victor Martin, dope, dudes. I have mad respect for Victor’s coaching, dude even has his own cool bobble head his brother gave him for being dope. I need one of those.
Even Russell Westbrook asked him to help coach his AAU squad, Team Why Not. Vic? He is fire and had this great quote on Alyssa Durazo-Frescas, “Alyssa puts so much into the game. She’s always paying it forward to others because she cares. She will make her mark in high school and college, especially as she refines her mid range and inside game.
“I’m trying to get her to be more greedy, take a few more shots, because it’ll help her and the team in the end. Alyssa and her mom have an awesome spirit, they are good people and Alyssa has a very bright future ahead in many ways.”
Let’s hear from Alyssa’s ultra adoring mom Monica what she appreciates about her awesome kid, “I’ve always told Alyssa, ‘Life will hit you hard. You’ll get knocked down by it but it’s the getting up part that matters’.
“It’s in her blood to constantly want to work out. My dad was a pro-cyclist, my mom Patty was into fitness and bodybuilding. So “extreme” is in her DNA, that’s the model we showed her. But we also told her to treat people better than the way they treat you.
“I’ve tried to give her so much good advice, and she listens when I’m out there cheering her on. She’s executing plays and I can see she remembers me saying, ‘Rip someone’s heart out in a game, or they’ll rip yours out first.’ Alyssa is always striving to be her best.
“I can’t be any more proud of her. It’s not just her academic 3.8 GPA and that she takes hard college prep classes. I admire that she has high goals to be a chiropractor, to stay being around athletes after college.
“What makes us all so proud is that she loves life with all that she has, she leaves it all out there as an athlete. As a person she treats all people right, all the time. She unfailingly makes me 100% proud to be her mom, and I’m always going to be Alyssa’s #1 fan.”
#Now you see, the power of love
Writers can’t quote exactly what college coaches say about a prep prospect, but O-M-G, do I need to share what a high major coach told me about Alyssa, “I love this kid Alyssa, her shot is the best you’ll find in LA or Cali. She will make some college coach very happy someday.”
I had this other coach from a WCC school jumping out of their chair to describe Alyssa to me. Like from the movie Jerry McGuire, when actor Cuba Gooding Jr. says “Show me the money.” Yup, that level of intensity. Click on the link to feel the moment:
This is the most I’ve ever heard a college coach show emotion to me on a player in my 17 years of writing on prep players.
Me, E-Woods? I’ve known dozens of beyond talented Mater Dei ballers since 2003. I was talking recently to a Mater Dei coach I respect so much, Gary McKnight. I told him I appreciate that Mater Dei creates Monarchs that stand for something in society, that Mater Dei gets the kids to be classy, driven, all into achieving excellence.
How fantastic is Alyssa to me? Let me elaborate by comparing Alyssa to the legendary Monarch greats I’ve known since 04’.
She is getting to be as good of an outside shooter as historic Taylor King, who committed to play for UCLA as an 8th grader. Alyssa might end up being a better shooter than T.
Bol Bol, his 7-2 tippy toe dunks seemed to be a cheat code at Mater Dei. But Alyssa is a cheat code with her pull-up from half-court range.
She has just as much fire and determination as our guy Devin Askew, who gets so much respect. She rolls hard like Dev.
Alyssa could even end up being a pro in the L like the NBA’s Stanley Johnson. Alyssa has that fire like Cal’s Cailyn Crocker, her teammate from last year. You get the point.
I was curious as to which music Alyssa listens to, and also which college players she appreciates.
Alyssa told me, “I listen to a lot of Drake and because I’m constantly working out, it depends on my mood. Some Drake songs hype me up, some chill me out. When I’m not working out, I’m walking on the beach but even on the beach I wish I were back to the gym. It helps that all my friends like to work out a lot.
“Players that I appreciate? I think a lot of USC’s Jordan Adams, her swag, what she does with the ball, her drive. And of course Katie Lou Samuelson of UCONN who is also from Mater Dei. She’s so giving.
“But I want to blaze my own path, find a PAC-12 program to play in, be a contributor, help them win a lot, make my own mark, just have fun. That’s what all the work has been about, to build toward a good PAC-12 career.
“Ever since my mom put me in T-ball and soccer in 1st grade, I just wanted to go out, push my body to compete. When I hear my mom sound so incredibly smart on the phone, she used to be a journalist but now she does sales, I just want to be just like her.
“I’m a fun living kid but I’m a little different than other teenagers too, more serious. My mom got me to realize that you need to prepare yourself for life. She did that early on for me, it was a gift. My mom is Monica Durazo, she’s the best mom a kid could have.”
Alyssa commands respect and brings out the absolute best in her competition. She respects Asia Avinger, the dope SDSU commit from nearby Rosary High and they have a powerful Orange County rivalry. It’s something to behold, on the level of Sierra Canyon and Windward to enjoy.
Asia had this to say of her friend Alyssa, “Alyssa brings out a lot of energy and you can tell she’s very passionate about the game. She’s a player you never want to sleep on because she hits the clutch shots when they count. I absolutely love playing against her because the level of competition is very high, and in those kind of games, against great players, the little things you do count the most.”
Click here for our story on Asia.
Alyssa recently attended a WNBA Phoenix Mercury game and the classy Diana Taurasi and Brittney Griner offered Alyssa a jersey and a hug. You could tell it meant a lot to Alyssa - click the twitter link, scroll down a bit, and see her priceless reaction:
https://mobile.twitter.com/alyssafrescasss
Me, E-Woods, I was even honored to give A-Frescas some SLAM gear from my old AAU team from 05’. I promised the all-time legendary SLAM writer Scoop Jackson I’d find straight up unicorns to break off gear to in 05’ and mentor kids or play for the squad like Baron Davis, Brandon Jennings, and DeMar DeRozan.
Alyssa Durazo-Frescas? She’s the quintessential unicorn of 19’, on and off the court fosho!
