Family athleticism runs deep for Ned

Chris Yemma

Angie Ned has pure athletic talent running through her veins. She

chose to direct it toward basketball.

Her brother, born with the same talent, chose football.

Her sister -- track and field.

The trio is living out the plan their parents had in mind from the

moment of their births. But when Ned was 6, her father, Larry Sr.,

died from health reasons.

Thirteen years later, Terra Ned has kept her and her husband’s

dream in mind. Her son, Larry, plays pro football for the Minnesota

Vikings and was a standout running back at San Diego State. Her older

daughter, Terica Ned-Pelt, is a collegiate track star for Cal State

Los Angeles.

And her youngest offspring, Angie, is a rising basketball star at

UC Irvine.

“We had a commitment when we had kids that we would do all we

could to support them in whatever they were doing,” Terra Ned said.

“I’m keeping that commitment.”

Angie Ned, a sophomore forward for the Anteaters, is the youngest

of the three sibling sports stars. Being the youngest, however,

doesn’t mean she’s the least accomplished.

After averaging just 2.8 points last season at UCI, Ned has

stepped into the dominant scoring position this year and is averaging

a team-high 15.2 points. She has scored a career-high 30 points twice

this year and has helped put the Anteaters in contention for the Big

West tournament after a dismal start to the season.

“She’s our main scorer, our best all-around basketball player,”

UCI interim head coach Molly Tuter said. “She gets it done for us.

She does it all, she’s naturally a go-getter.”

What wasn’t natural for Ned, was last season’s low numbers. She

was a three-time All-Sun Belt League honoree at Perris High and a

second-team all county choice her senior season, 2002-2003. She

played volleyball and ran track for the Panthers, while always being

considered a leader.

But her first year as an Anteater proved to be something

different. One might argue she was only a freshman, but that was no

excuse for her.

“I was disappointed in myself as a player last season,” Ned said.

“I asked the coaches for advice at the end of the season, and they

told me to work on my individual technical skills, to work hard and

to never stop working. And so I did all those things.”

Tuter, who recruited Ned out of high school, was a participant in

many of those conversations, along with former coach Mark Adams. But

in December, Adams resigned from the head coaching position after an

0-7 start to the season, and Tuter took over from there.

“I wouldn’t say it was a low point -- it was shocking -- but it

happened and we just moved forward,” Ned said. “Things happen for a

reason.”

Tuter may now be Ned’s basketball tutor, but throughout Ned’s

life, her mother has been her role model. Raising three kids by

herself and moving from Louisiana to California in 1990, Terra Ned

has stressed the importance of education to her kids their entire

lives.

“Education was a big point -- we encouraged them all,” Terra Ned

said. “I always told them that it doesn’t matter how good in sports

you are, you won’t go anywhere without an education.”

So far, both the sports and the education have panned out for all

of her kids, as she skips back and forth between Viking football

games, Anteater basketball games and Golden Eagle track meets.

Right now, it’s the Anteaters’ basketball season that is winding

down, with her daughter Angie leading the charge to the Big West

tournament. It’s still a little cloudy whether the team will make it,

but Angie’s basketball future is a little more clear.

And if she keeps progressing, she just might be the next one to

follow in her brother Larry’s footsteps and turn pro.

“Ned can achieve all the goals she wants to achieve,” said Tuter,

who played one season in the WNBA before turning to coaching.

“There’s no reason why I see she won’t achieve all of her goals,

including playing in the WNBA.”