New Jersey’s Destiny Adams has made Rutgers her home in more ways than one
The leading scorer in Division I women's basketball is a Manchester Township native whose game is evolving at Rutgers.
PISCATAWAY – The Rutgers women’s basketball team trailed Cornell by five through three quarters before Destiny Adams took over.
Adams scored the first six points of the fourth to flip the lead in the Scarlet Knights’ favor. After scoring on one of her go-to post moves, spinning off the low block and shooting over two defenders with their hands up, Adams took rebounds on back-to-back Cornell possessions and went coast to coast herself, stopping short of her usual post down low and scoring from the midrange.
It was the jolt her team needed. Rutgers soon went on a 13-0 run for some separation, and Adams finished the quarter a remarkable 7-for-7 for 14 points with six rebounds and an assist – while playing just eight of the period’s 10 minutes – to guide Rutgers to a 72-61 win.
The Manchester Township native has been on a phenomenal run of form this season; that 30-point, 15-rebound showing was just the start. Adams put up a career-high 36 points and 22 rebounds the following game against NJIT. She received Big Ten Player of the Week honors along with some national recognition.
As of Monday morning, four games into her season, Adams leads all of Division I women’s basketball in scoring (27.0 ppg) and ranks third in rebounding average (14.0). And she’s doing it for her state university after starting her college career at North Carolina.
At the outset of her senior year and her second season at Rutgers, Adams feels validated in her decision to transfer home in 2023.
“I think it kind of just harps on everything that I’ve been saying about coming here, about how it’s been the best decision,” Adams told reporters last week. “Being close to home, really elevating my game, being able to play here, play how I’ve always known how to play, I think that’s what means the most.”
Adams was ESPN’s No. 20 overall prospect in girls high school basketball in 2021 – a stacked class in which, for point of comparison, USC star forward Kiki Iriafen ranked one spot ahead of Adams and wing Talia Von Oelhoffen was No. 25. Adams committed to North Carolina and had two unspectacular years there, averaging 13.0 minutes per game mostly off the bench.
Rutgers coach Coquese Washington remembers the short recruiting timeline her staff had when Adams entered the transfer portal after the 2022-23 season.
“She wanted to come home and be around her family for sure, but she also wanted a basketball home,” Washington said. “She wanted a home away from home and I think she’s found that. The relationship she has with her teammates, the relationship she has with her coaches, it’s a wonderful sight to see.
“She is just somebody now that when she comes in the practice gym, when she comes in the arena, she feels that peace. And I think having that peace around her is allowing her to flourish on the court.”
Adams, who was named to national teams of the week by NCAA.com and the U.S. Basketball Writers Association, credits Washington for believing in her game.
“Coach Co is great,” she said. “She allows me to play like how I know how to play. She doesn’t try to change my game in any way. And I think, really, my teammates, I think having their support and them just knowing when I’m on and feeding me the ball, like none of this would have been possible. I wouldn’t have been recognized for any of this without them. And I think that’s really what makes Rutgers as a home is the team and the coaches.”
Don’t mistake “not trying to change her game” for letting her run free and not trying to make her a better basketball player. There’s legitimate improvement in Adams’ repertoire since she first stepped foot on Rutgers’ campus. Her free throw numbers have ticked up, as has her offensive rebounding. Washington revealed what else Adams zeroed in on over the offseason.
“The biggest thing she worked on with Coach Nneka (Enemkpali) was her balance, you know, in being able to withstand bumps, withstand contact and still get off a good shot,” Washington said. “She spent a lot of time working on finishing. And she also spent some time working on her outside shot. And even though the results haven’t come necessarily right away, the confidence that she has in her outside game is a little bit more evident.”
Washington spoke with us before Rutgers’ most recent game, Friday against Iona, when more of Adams’ evolution was on display. She made her second 3-pointer of the young season (she had one all of last season), and on the play below, she sank a difficult jumping putback, high off the glass, while being pushed off-balance.
If you’re inclined to say Adams’ outburst has come against lesser competition, consider that she concluded last season with 31 points and 24 rebounds in a Big Ten tournament loss to Minnesota. Of her 11 career double-doubles – all of which have come in a Rutgers uniform – she’s had four in her past five games dating to March 6, and two of those have been 30-point, 20-rebound performances.
“She’s really playing with a mentality that she won’t be denied,” Washington said. “She won’t be denied rebounds. She won’t be denied shot opportunities. She likes getting to the free throw line, she’s making her free throws. I think she’s just playing with just a fearlessness and a determination that, ‘I’m not going to be denied. I’m going to play my game. I’m going to do what I do. And good luck trying to stop it.’”
Adams said she worked on her shot over the offseason because she realized opponents were scouting her only as an inside presence. Those first two gifs from the Cornell game illustrate how confident Adams now feels pulling up from the midrange when defenses in transition cheat toward the rim.
Adams, five-star freshman Kiyomi McMiller and fifth-year center Chyna Cornwell (who’s also averaging a double-double per game) have Rutgers 4-0 for the first time since 2019-20. A step up in competition awaits, with a trip to Virginia Tech on Tuesday followed by the annual game against Princeton on Sunday.
It’s a crucial moment for a historic women’s program that hasn’t made the NCAA Tournament since 2021 and has struggled to a 10-43 Big Ten record over the past three seasons. I asked Adams just how good this year’s team could turn out to be.
“I think extremely good,” Adams said. “I think that everybody’s just going to have to wait and find out.”
According to Washington, Adams’ dominant start has others connected to the program talking, too.
“We talk specifically not just to the players on our team, but kids that are coming and joining the team in the future,” the coach said. “They talk about, ‘Man, she’s playing so well and what am I going to do when it’s my turn and how do we follow behind Destiny Adams?’
“She’s definitely setting a standard for what excellence looks like for this program and etching her name in the record books alongside some of the other Rutgers greats that have played in this arena and worn this uniform. And that’s a good thing to have, is somebody who’s setting a standard that current teammates and future teammates can live up to.”
Rutgers also has a muti-team event coming up in Piscataway: the “Battle on the Banks” on Nov. 29 and 30, where the Scarlet Knights will play Marquette and Georgia Southern. The timing of that means players can’t head out of state for Thanksgiving, but Adams has an idea about how to spend the day.
“I was actually thinking about maybe inviting the team to my house for Thanksgiving, since we play over the break that most people usually have,” Adams said. “I was thinking about inviting them over for Thanksgiving, so we’ll see if they come.”
What a fitting way for her to spend her last Thanksgiving as a college athlete: joining her blood family with her basketball one, and taking full advantage of being so close to home.