NCAAW
Greg Garber, Senior Writer 7y

Maryland women embrace Ashlyn Barrett, the youngest Terrapin

Women's College Basketball, Maryland Terrapins

COLLEGE PARK, Maryland -- The Maryland women's basketball team, appropriately jazzed for its opening game of the NCAA tournament against Bucknell, is screaming.

The players form a circle outside their locker room in Xfinity Center, lean in and then throw their arms in the air. The noise, frankly, is overwhelming, but when they straighten up, there, at the center of the huddle, is Ashlyn Barrett.

She's sitting in a wheelchair, but the smile on the 7-year-old's face is incandescent.

This, of course, is the whole point of the process that made her a genuine Terrapin teammate two years ago.

"She's constantly in and out of the hospital, and she really doesn't get to interact a lot just as a regular person," Maryland's Kristen Confroy, a junior guard, explained. "I think being part of a team allows her that extra anchor of support."

In and around that easy, breezy 103-61 win over Bucknell, Ashlyn, wearing all kinds of Maryland gear, was everywhere -- in in the locker room for pre- and postgame speeches, on the floor for warmups and the national anthem.

She won't be at Saturday's Sweet 16 game in Bridgeport, Connecticut, when No. 3 seed Maryland meets 10th-seeded Oregon -- or at Monday's potential regional final against No. 1 UConn, a grudge rematch the Terrapins and Ashlyn would particularly relish. Ashlyn will be watching at home with 12-year-old sister Makenzie, her mom and dad.

When Team IMPACT, a nonprofit organization that matches chronically ill children with college athletic teams, broached the subject of Ashlyn, Terps coach Brenda Frese immediately signed on. When her young son, Tyler, was waging a three-year battle with leukemia, since conquered, she saw how being around the team helped rally his spirits.

"I know from my own personal story," Frese said. "All of a sudden you can bring them to a game, practice with your team -- I know what a difference that makes for families.

"Ashlyn could never play sports or be on a sports team. So for us to make that kind of difference in their lives is incredible."

At the age of five months, Ashlyn was diagnosed with ectopic atrial tachycardia, an irregular heartbeat. Later, a rare, progressive form of muscular dystrophy and gastroparesis, an affliction that makes eating difficult, were added to the laundry list of challenges.

Bottom line, Ashlyn's muscles are atrophying, her digestive tract is essentially paralyzed and she's in constant pain. She wears leg braces to help with the pain but needs a wheelchair now when she leaves the house. Since doctors have discovered only three other people in the world with the mutation causing her MS, they are unable to predict an outcome.

"It's so frustrating," said Ashlyn's mother, Jennifer Barrett. "She goes through all these hospital visits and therapy. You name it, we've been to the specialist.

"But Ashlyn's amazing. She doesn't complain. She's like a rock."

As Confroy said, "We learned along the way that she is the one teaching us. Little did we know that's how it would work out."

Sitting in her Maryland-themed bedroom in Annapolis, Maryland, Ashlyn proudly pointed out the autographed player portraits, her bobble-head dolls and her pet terrapin, Terp. She's only 7, but she has a sneaky sense of humor.

"I have about 40 sisters," she said of the Maryland players she's known.

That's a lot of birthday cards.

"Oh, I just say happy birthday in person," Ashlyn said, smiling. "That would be way too many."

And she really, really likes to win. She gets cranky when they lose, which fortunately has only happened twice this year.

"You hear the things she goes through, and you're just like, 'Dang,'" freshman guard Destiny Slocum said. "She's really strong. I've never seen Ashlyn have a bad day.

"When you see her come in, you're like, 'All right, we can do this.' She's like our spirit monster. She keeps us going."

During the Bucknell game, there seemed to be a genuine connection between Ashlyn and her team -- and not just when the television cameras were rolling for an ESPN feature. The high-fives, the banter, the enthusiasm work both ways. Kiara Leslie, a junior guard, is her personal escort, handling Ashlyn's bedazzled, light-up custom wheelchair with an impressive degree of finesse.

"She inspires us as a team," freshman guard Kaila Charles said. "So I feel like when we see her, we see her joy that she brings when she walks in. It kind of makes us want to play harder, play stronger, play faster, and just play through anything."

Afterward, Ashlyn was asked if 103 points against Bucknell was enough.

"I'd like more," she said, rolling her brown eyes, "but that was OK."

Earlier, she had explained how therapeutic these interactions are.

"I just kind of, like, get focused on the game," Ashlyn said. "I don't even really concentrate on my legs or stomach or head."

After a rough day of practice, Frese will sometimes text the team and tell them, as relayed by mother Jennifer, the things that Ashlyn endured that particular day.

"You have a tough day, tough exam, a lot that you're juggling," Frese said. "But when Ashlyn rolls into the room -- and we know how sick she is -- it really puts it all into perspective.

"There are so many life lessons we all can take from Ashlyn and what she's been through. I think the first thing for all of us is just to appreciate every single day that's in front of us."

Senior center Brionna Jones, who had 25 points and 10 rebounds in 25 minutes against Bucknell, said Ashlyn gives the team extra motivation.

"Knowing that nothing is as tough as what she's going through, and anything that we think is hard, or a call is going the wrong way, just in the back of your mind, you know it's not the end of the world," Jones said.

The family, which doesn't have the wherewithal to keep up with Ashlyn's mounting expenses, has set up a GoFundMe to help, at www.gofundme.com/ashlyns-medical-expenses.

Confroy, who is probably Ashlyn's closest friend on this team, has learned an important lesson from the littlest Terrapin.

"Your own perspective is your reality," she said. "So if you want to think that the world is crumbling right before you, then it's going to be crumbling. But if you think, 'Today's going to be an awesome day, and I'm going to take advantage of every opportunity I get no matter how big or small.'

"I think that's the biggest thing that Ashlyn has really taught me."

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