Molly Heard adds another Female Athlete of the Year honor to long list of accolades

Pisgah's Molly Heard brings the ball down court against Lanett's Ariel Hall during an AHSAA Class 2A semifinal game at BJCC's Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Ala., Monday, Feb. 28, 2022. (Marvin Gentry | preps@al.com)
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Molly Heard is the AL.com Tennessee Valley Female Athlete of the Year for the second straight year. Being honored for her athletic accomplishments is not unusual for the former Pisgah High School basketball star.

The Lipscomb University freshman-to-be won her third straight state tournament most valuable player award as she helped lead Pisgah to its fifth straight girls basketball title in March. She is a two-time Alabama Sports Writers Association Player of the Year – as a sophomore and a senior – and was a finalist for the award as a junior. Heard is a three-time first-team All-State performer and was a second-team pick for the basketball All-State squad as a freshman.

Heard also played center field for two state champion softball teams at Pisgah, earning All-State honors in 2021. And, she played volleyball at Pisgah for her mom, Chrystal, and was an honorable mention choice for the Huntsville All-Region team.

“I played volleyball since the seventh grade,” Heard said. “I love volleyball. We call volleyball our ‘fun’ sport because in basketball you go out and everybody expects you to win. In volleyball, we expected to win, but we just had the best time out there. It was like playing in the backyard. It didn’t matter if we were up 20 or down 20, we were still having a good time.”

As a member of the Eagles basketball team that tied a state record with its fifth consecutive state championship, Heard set a standard for excellence.

“Molly has been a true joy to coach all these years,” Pisgah head basketball coach Carey Ellison said. “She is among the best players to ever play in the state, which I realize are big words, but her career speaks for itself. She is a super player and a super role model for the many young girls who look up to her.”

Heard finished her career as the Eagles’ all-time leading scorer with 2,696 points – passing former Miss Basketball Annie Hughes, who is now playing at Auburn. In her final game, a 74-64 win over St. Luke’s, the 5-foot-11 Heard scored 25 points and had 16 rebounds. As a senior, she averaged 21.9 points per game and made 77 percent of her free-throw attempts. Heard averaged 10.4 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 3.1 steals and 2.5 blocks.

“If she had been at a larger school, she would have been getting more attention from the Power 5 conferences,” Ellison said. “She is very intelligent and she chose the school that fit her future goals the best instead of just going with the bigger-name schools.”

RELATED: Brayden Kyle is Male Athlete of the Year

Heard, who joins the Lipscomb Bison basketball team for workouts on July 5, said reflecting on her basketball career is surreal.

“Growing up and getting ready to play high school basketball and then playing on varsity in the eighth grade, I never would have thought we’d have that kind of run,” she said. “I thought that I wanted to win one championship, but I never thought we could win five in a row. After we got to that second or third one I thought, ‘Well, we’ve got to win them all now.’

“At the beginning of each year, everybody would be kind of nervous and not playing our best, but about Christmas time, each team would find what we were good at and what would help us go all the way. I think it was something different every year.

“Each year, when we’d lose somebody [to graduation], people would say, ‘Ah, you can’t do it without them,’ but we’d always find a way.”

Heard said winning personal awards “is crazy! I didn’t know anything about Player of the Year awards until Annie Hughes won it. Then, I thought, ‘Hey, I might want to do that.’”

Hughes may have been her inspiration, but the 18-year-old said her journey in sports began as the younger sister to two brothers.

“I think I started playing basketball in kindergarten,” she said. “I played on a team in the third grade, I think. I have got to give all the credit to my two older brothers, Drew and Cole. They pushed me to be who I am today.”

Heard chose Lipscomb from about five college offers, she said. The recruiters talked to her about her contributions to the Pisgah basketball legacy.

“I got it a lot from coaches who said they wanted somebody who knew how to win a championship,” she said. “That made me feel really good hearing that from a college coach.

“I would say I’m a little nervous about college. It will take some time to get used to it. I’m excited about going to a Division I school. It’s been my dream forever. I’m super excited about going and experiencing a different life than Pisgah, Alabama. I’m excited to do something different.”

RECENT TENNESSEE VALLEY FEMALE ATHLETES OF THE YEAR

2021 – Molly Heard, Pisgah

2020 – Gracie Lynn Butler, Hazel Green

2019 – Emma Jarrett, Bob Jones

2018 – Shyan Flack, Brewer

2017 – Jada Terry, West Morgan

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