Sayvia Sellers
After a historic hoops career that saw Sayvia Sellers of ACS break the state’s all-time girls scoring record, win three state championships and go undefeated against Alaska competition, you might have thought that was it for her as a high school player.
But there’s one more.
Sellers will take the court for the last time at the prep level Saturday, when she’ll become the first Alaskan to play in the 10th annual Ballislife All-American Game in Los Angeles.
“I’m excited to play against a lot of those girls because some of them are really good,” said Sellers, who averaged 28 points and 10 assists a game as a senior.
The recognition is a nice tip-of-the-cap to the dynamic 5-foot-7 point guard and University of Washington signee, who was snubbed last month by the renowned McDonald’s All-American Game despite being ranked No. 28 nationally for the Class of 2023.
“You know, the McDonald’s All-American thing would have been nice, but it’s OK. I can’t get everything,” Sellers said.
Bagging a berth to the Ballislife All-American Game is a cool consolation prize as the game will feature many of the top seniors in the country, most notably No. 2-ranked Mikaylah Williams, No. 3 Jadyn Donovan and No. 6 Kamorea Arnold.
Sellers can’t wait to see how she stacks up against girls ahead of her in the national rankings. Even though all-star games tend to have a pickup game vibe, Sellers plans to play hard and test herself against elite competition.
“I obviously don’t get a lot of that here in Alaska,” she said, “so it’s always good to play against people better than me and learn something and keep me humble.”
Sellers shoots over two West defenders at the Class 4A girls state tournament. Photo by Bryan Boyett/Alaska Sports Report
Sellers thinks she is “for sure” every bit as good as the top-tier players and is eager to go head-to-head against them to prove that point.
“I’m really confident in my abilities,” she said. “I think I’ve worked on my craft a lot. The last time I played against this type of competition, I do think I got better.”
Last fall, Sellers showcased her hard-to-guard game and ranked among the top echelon of players at the Coach Wootten’s Top 150 Camp in Dallas. It was just one of many showstopping performances the Alaskan furnished on the college recruiting circuit.
When pushed by Lower 48 players she has taken her game to another level, sometimes even surprising herself.
“There are still times when I’m like, ‘Oh, wow. That was impressive,’” Sellers said with a laugh. “When I play well, those are always fun moments.”
There was never a doubt if she was good enough to play in this game, but whether she could get permission was another question. She had to ask her mom.
“I’ve missed quite a bit of school because of basketball, so I had to check with her first,” said Sellers, who has a 3.1 GPA.
After she got the green light, Sellers was ready to go and started making travel plans so she could lace ‘em up one last game as a prep player.
“It’s definitely a great opportunity,” Sellers said.
Sellers averaged 28 points and 10 assists per game as a senior. Photo by Bryan Boyett/Alaska Sports Report
In Alaska, she finished her career as arguably the greatest high school player of all time. That’s high praise for a highbrow player with more decorations than a holiday party.
Sellers led the ACS Lions to a 79-0 record against in-state competition in her four seasons and won state titles in 2021, 2022 and 2023. The 2020 state tournament was cancelled by COVID, the only thing that prevented her from going 4-for-4.
She is the first top-35 national girls recruit from Alaska since 2000, when Palmer’s Jessica Moore signed with UConn.
Sellers was a two-time Gatorade Alaska Player of the Year and scored 2,651 points to break Alaska’s all-time scoring record of 2,614 set in 2019 by Anchorage’s Alissa Pili of Dimond. Those two will both be in the Pac-12 Conference next season, with Pili being a senior All-American at Utah and Sellers a freshman at Washington.
“I think there’s a lot of girls before me from Alaska like Alissa and Ruthy (Hebard) that kind of rung the bell and honestly, I feel like I’m next and I’ve rung the bell for standout players and proved that people in Alaska can hoop,” Sellers said.
“I think it’s going to keep being like that throughout the years as more girls who are super talented but haven’t been seen yet.”
Sellers’ generational talent caught the eye of Anchorage filmmaker Joey Barranco, who is making a documentary on Sellers and chronicling her senior season.
“Joey’s a good guy,” Sellers said. “It’s definitely been fun, just having Joey around and getting these good clips. I love all his videos.”
Sayvia Sellers (ESPN #28) has accomplished things that are simply unprecedented for an Alaskan hooper on the girls side. With her senior season looming, there is still one barrier she’s looking to break: becoming a McDonald’s All-American. 🍔 pic.twitter.com/kxyGAVHQHV
— Joey (@Intrnationalhov) November 25, 2022
Barranco, a UAA journalism student, graduated from East High in 2018 and played basketball for the T-birds as well as Grays Harbor College.
His documentary will feature Sellers on the court and intimate moments behind the scenes. She begrudgingly agreed to star in a documentary at the beginning but is now all in.
“It’s been fun, like, having him interviewing my family and other people and hearing what they are saying about me,” Sellers said. “It was just super cool to hear. It’s been a lot of fun.”
Sellers is the type of player who garners all the attention on the court, but off it, she shies away from the limelight. Yet Barranco got her to open up, revealing how this small guard from a small school on Northern Lights Boulevard wound up becoming a giant in Alaska hoops history.
“I think there’s definitely a story to tell,” Sellers said. “A lot more chapters are coming up, but this one’s a good one.”