AUSTIN, Texas — In a town like Liberty Hill, Texas it’s hard to go unnoticed. It’s a place where everyone knows each other. It’s especially difficult not to stand out when you're a young girl standing 6 foot 7 inches tall, like Sedona Prince.
“I took her to every sporting event I could with tall women,” says Prince’s mother Tambra Prince. “I said, ‘Look at them. Aren’t they beautiful? Let those be your role models. It took a long time for her to find her comfort level, a long time to find out who she was.”
One thing that helped Prince find her comfort level was basketball.
“When she latched onto basketball, she just made it her passion,” says Tambra.
Not only was Prince tall, but it quickly became clear that she was very skilled. She started receiving college offers before she got to high school and even made a commitment to the University of Texas (UT) when she was only in the 8th grade.
Prince helped Liberty Hill reach the state tournament multiple times during her high school career. Even with all of her success on the court, she was still trying to find out about herself off the court.
“When I was at Liberty Hill I was definitely not the person I was supposed to be,” says Prince. “I challenged a lot of things — my own sexuality, who I was as a basketball player and who I was as a person.”
Heading off to college would allow Prince an opportunity to figure out more about herself, but she didn’t realize the other adversity that was ahead. She signed with UT out of Liberty Hill, but never played a minute for the Longhorns.
Prince broke her leg, playing for Team USA before her freshman season. During her rehab process, there was a falling out with UT and it eventually led her to transfer to Oregon. After the NCAA didn’t approve her immediate eligibility to play at Oregon, it wasn't until 2020 that she played in her first college basketball game.
“I don’t know how many people actually know how bad things were, because if they did it would give them some hope if they were going through something awful,” says Tambra. “But she’s having a blast now and deserves every bit of success.”
Through all of these struggles, Prince started to find herself and her voice. She challenged the NCAA on a number of different things, including NIL rules and equality between men’s and women’s sports.
She had a video during the NCAA basketball tournament last year showing the difference between the men’s weight room set up and the lack of one for the women. That video had over 18 million views.
“Everything I do, every one watches and that is very different for me and so I’ve had to adjust quickly and find out who I am,” says Prince. “‘I’ve dealt with mental health struggles through all of this because there is a lot of pressure. Having my friends and family to help me and support me through all this stuff is the biggest thing.”
Her new found popularity has led to some money-making opportunities. Prince has almost 3 million followers on Tik Tok and that means companies want to use her to advertise products. After her efforts help get new NIL laws passed this summer, she is able to take full advantage of the new rules.
“This is almost my 2nd year fighting it with the NCAA, so I’ve been ahead of this and it’s been my passion,” says Sedona.
“I think she’s certainly the poster child for the NIL,” says Kelly Graves, the head women’s basketball coach at Oregon. “I think she has managed it really well. The different sponsors she has is off the charts.”
Prince has embraced her entrepreneurial side, something she learned from her parents who run multiple businesses, and says she even learned to do her taxes this year. Even with so much going on off the court, she knows where the priorities are.
“I see basketball and school as the number 1 priority in my life,” says Prince. “(NIL) has now become like a 3rd job, if I don’t have time for it then I just don’t do it.”
Prince enters the new basketball season as one of the top players on this Oregon team and it could be her long awaited breakout season on the court. She and the Ducks open this year on Nov. 9.