Pryor Proves with Hard Work Dreams Can Come True
5/18/2026 3:22:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Years before Ny'Ceara Pryor's name began showing up in the Sacred Heart women's basketball record book, she was just another wide-eyed kid at Washington Mystics games who dreamed about life playing in the WNBA.
That dream became a reality on the final Saturday of April when she made her presence felt in a preseason game against Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever.
Despite going undrafted after a spectacular final college season at Texas A&M, the New York Liberty saw enough to sign Pryor to a rookie scale contract.
Along with Xan Yu, she was the first player off the bench for the Liberty playing alongside WNBA All-Stars Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu.
"There were a lot of emotions," Pryor said. "I was happy, excited, nervous, anxious, all in the same (moment).
"The night before, I couldn't even fall asleep because I was just so anxious to play. Once I got out there, I wasn't nervous as much as I thought I would be. I would definitely say that I was excited and nervous all at the same time. When I got out there, I was like 'wow, you are literally in the best league, just play your game.'"
She did just that. Pryor had one point, three rebounds, five assists and four steals in 24 minutes.
"I watched every second," Sacred Heart women's basketball coach Jessica Mannetti said. "I was ecstatic for her, she played great. She didn't look scared, she looked really comfortable, she looked confident. I think she understands what her role is and what the team needs from her. It was amazing to see her in a Liberty uniform."
The Baltimore native was in the stands for plenty of Washington Mystics games. Getting the chance to talk to some of the players, including Elena Delle Donne, who will be inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in August, provided plenty of inspiration for Pryor.
"Delle Donne was there and she was one of my favorite players. I remember going up to her and asking, 'what got you here.' It is belief, you have to believe in yourself, believe that you put in the work and you are going to get anywhere that you want to be."
That belief was evident in her professional debut. Only one other reserve for the Liberty received more playing time in New York's preseason opener than Pryor.
"There just comes a moment in everyone's career where you have to try to make a name for yourself," Liberty head coach Chris DeMarco said after the 109-91 loss to Indiana. "This was her opportunity to go out there and even though it is just a preseason game, show her abilities. I thought she played well and I thought she brought us good energy."
High energy is the name of Pryor's game. She has had doubters all her life because of her 5-foot-3-inch frame.
"Right now my height is what people are talking about and not my game," Pryor said. "I know that I belong, I go out every day and I prove myself. Anybody who has ever watched me knows that she is 5-3 but you are going to see why she is out there. I think that is how I walk into anything is all you need is to give me a chance and I am going to show you who I am."
Her lack of height nearly resulted in Sacred Heart passing on a player who would end up third in program history with 1,790 points and second with 257 steals. Mannetti was looking for a point guard with some size. At a recruiting event in Pennsylvania, her assistant coach (Ross James, now the head coach at UIndy) was on a different court and asked Mannetti to come see this electrifying guard. When Mannetti asked if she was a tall point guard, the answer from James was not the one Mannetti was looking for.
"I very reluctantly went over to the court, sat next to him and watched her play," Mannetti said. "She is 5-3 playing like she is 6-5. She is pushing tempo, being a floor general, dropping dimes, finishing through traffic with physicality. She is so high motor, such a leader, so confident.
"I am watching her and in my head, I am having this battle of, 'oh she is so small, I don't know if she will be OK at the next level.' I watched her again later that day and watched her the following day and I was just sold. Her intangibles are so good, she just outworks everybody, she does all the little things. I had no hesitation after I watched her a few times. We got her up on campus a couple of weeks later and she committed. From that point on, it was history."
Pryor led all Division I women's players in steals per game as a freshman and a junior with the Pioneers. She was the Northeast Conference's Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year in her first season.
She scored in double figures in all 34 games as a freshman. Had a triple-double against Saint Francis (PA). The next season she set Sacred Heart's single-season scoring record, breaking Amanda Pape's mark that stood since 2007. Pryor not only led Sacred Heart to Northeast Conference tournament titles in each of her first two seasons, she was the Most Outstanding Player in the NEC Tournament both times.
She had 12 points in a loss to Stanford in the NCAA tournament and 11 points, eight rebounds and 10 assists in a First Four win over Southern University. She was denied a chance to make it three NEC tournament titles in three seasons when Sacred Heart moved to the MAAC heading into Pryor's junior season. She still stuffed the stat sheet as a junior.
"Her greatest impact was she was one of the best program players you could ask for," Mannetti said. "She was involved in everything here. She was beloved by our community. She is so special because she is so immersed in what our community and our program is about and she is not just a basketball player.
"She just makes you feel like you matter. She makes people in the program make you feel like you matter, she makes her teammates feel like they matter. She is so selfless. She is special. I don't know if I will ever coach another kid like her."
Pryor opted to enter the transfer portal after her junior year. Always the competitor, she wanted to test herself. Texas A&M head coach Joni Taylor, a former SEC Coach of the Year and assistant coach on the 2024 gold-medal winning U.S. Olympic team, was happy to give her that opportunity.
Pryor wasn't quite sure she if she was good enough to make her presence known in the SEC. She was going into a league that would see 15 players taken in the 2026 WNBA Draft, including four in the first round.
"I remember calling my coaches and calling my pastor to try to figure out which school was the best for me," Pryor said. "I was doubting my ability, I don't know if I can really play at the SEC level coming from the MAAC and going straight to the SEC. For me it was believing in myself.
"I would never regret that decision. That was probably the best decision I made in my entire life just being challenged every day."
Pryor flirted with a quadruple double in her first game at Texas A&M. She averaged 16.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, 7 assists and 3.6 steals per game to earn second-team All-SEC honors. She was the only Division I women's player to finish in the top 10 in both assists and steals per game during the 2025-26 season.
Her contributions weren't limited to basketball. Before she played her first game with the Aggies, she was one of four Texas A&M student-athletes to take part in the SEC Student-Athlete Leadership Council. Pryor was also named to the SEC Community Service Team.
Pryor certainly got on the radar of WNBA teams. It didn't hurt that she had 13 points, four assists and four steals in the Lilly Women's College All-Star Game.
Getting the chance to play in the WNBA meant so much to her as well as those who worked with her at Sacred Heart.
"For Sacred Heart, it is such an incredible moment as a program," Mannetti said. "It is such a testament to the work that she put in obviously, but also the experience that she had to be able to develop and grow under our program. It means so much to our program and to the community that loves her and supports her here."
Pryor will always be indebted to Mannetti for giving her a chance when so many other Division I coaches were scared away by her lack of height.
"Sacred Heart was a huge stage for me," Pryor said. "I built my name and I built by rep in the college basketball world. Just to win two (NEC) championships back-to-back and get all of those accolades, you don't get that if you aren't put in the right position.
"I owe them everything. I wasn't really highly recruited coming out so the way that they gave me a chance. It was an amazing experience to be there and them helping me be a better person, a better leader, a better basketball player."
