SAN ANTONIO – Family has always been the most important thing in Idara Udo’s life.
A native of Plano, Texas, Udo is a first-generation American as her parents Ituru Inim and Efrung Udo immigrated from Nigeria in their late 20s. She takes great pride in both her Nigerian heritage and in the opportunities afforded to her.
“The chance to represent my parents and represent the sacrifices they made for me is something that I’ll forever hold close to my heart,” Udo said. “All in all, I just want to make them proud and take advantage of the opportunities that they didn’t have growing up.”
Udo’s UTSA family is equally as important to her and was the main reason she chose to join the Roadrunners.
“I think if you ask everybody on our team why they came here, it would just be the feeling,” she said. “It’s a feeling of trust within the coaching staff and within Coach Aston. You know you’re going to be taken care of when you come here. You know that Coach has faith in you and, if you work hard, she’s going to reward the hard work.”
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Basketball, to Udo, has always been something she has done for fun, even as she has established herself as one of the top post players in the American Athletic Conference.
Growing up in Plano, Udo’s mother was looking for activities for Idara and her sister, Sema, to participate in. For Udo, now 6-foot-1, basketball just made sense.
“My mom put my little sister in gymnastics, but gymnastics was just not for me the way I was built, so she decided to put me in basketball. She signed me up for a rec league and that’s how I started playing.”
Udo excelled both in academics and basketball as a prep player at Plano East Senior High, a program rich in girls basketball tradition. She helped lead her team to two district championships and was a First-Team All-District selection each of her last three years, and was an Academic All-District honoree. Udo scored more than 1,000 career points for the Panthers and was the District Defensive Player of the Year in her sophomore and senior campaigns.
By a turn of fate, Udo came on Karen Aston’s radar early. Aston, who had been hired as UTSA’s head coach in April 2021, was recruiting another player at Plano East, when Udo caught her eye.
“I saw Idara a year younger than what we would usually target someone, but I just thought that she had a lot of potential at the time I saw her and I thought she would fit our style,” Aston said. “That’s what you look for – someone who is not going to have a dramatic transition in style of play. And then you take it from there and you work on development.”
Udo possesses two of the most important qualities that Aston – who has, for decades, been known as one of the nation’s top recruiters – looks for in a prospective student-athlete. Most importantly for any player, she has what Aston terms a “high motor,” an intangible inner drive that she can spot as soon as she sees it. Udo also came from a winning high school program, an experience that teaches a player the importance of collective team success, not just individual accolades.
“You look at Idara, she’s smart and she has a high motor,” Aston said. “Sometimes kids at her position don’t get to move in a lot of space and, when they come out of high school, they have to figure out how to rev their motor up. She already came with that. She played in a high school program that’s very used to winning. It’s a big key for me to bring in kids who are used to winning and have that cultural mindset.”
Playing college basketball wasn’t something that Udo had ever really considered until she started to get looks from Division I programs, especially UTSA. She wasn’t caught up in the recruiting process as some players can be. She’s always just been a player who loves basketball.
“I didn’t really feel like that was an attainable possibility,” Udo said. “I had no idea probably up until the summer of my junior year when I started getting offers. Up until that point, I was playing basketball for fun just to have something to do and just because I was kind of good at it.”
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It didn’t take long upon her arrival at UTSA for Udo to make an impact on her team. By the third game of her collegiate career, she had cracked the starting lineup and finished her rookie campaign with 22 starts, averaging 7.4 points per game, 5.9 rebounds per game and 25 total blocked shots.
Playing in the post alongside former standout and current Director of Basketball Operations Elyssa Coleman gave Udo a crash in being successful at the collegiate level.
“She had a lot of responsibility last year because Jordyn [Jenkins] was out, so it escalated her growth,” Aston said. “She had a wonderful experience playing with Elyssa and I think it helped her grow.”
Much like the opportunity to play college basketball was unexpected for Udo, so too was the big role that she played on her team as a freshman. What wasn’t a surprise was that she immediately stepped up to the challenge.
“I had no idea that my freshman year was going to go the way it did or that I was going to have such an impact for my team,” she said. “I put in a lot of work in the gym. Our coaching staff had a lot of faith in me and I had faith in myself. As I trusted in my work, I gained confidence.”
One of the most memorable moments of the 2023-24 season for Udo, and for the team, came last January at the Convocation Center in a game against American Athletic Conference-leading Charlotte.
Udo missed a turn-around jumper at the end of regulation that would have given the Roadrunners the win. In the first overtime, she hit two clutch free throws with nine seconds left to seemingly clinch the victory, but the 49ers hit a buzzer-beating shot to tie the game. With 1.8 seconds remaining in double overtime, Udo connected on a put-back to secure the 81-80 win for UTSA. She raced over to the sideline and lifted Aston in the air in celebration. Udo finished that game with 26 points, nine rebounds and three blocks.
“To this day, that is probably my favorite moment at UTSA,” Udo said. “It was just crazy, especially as a freshman. I had a really good game and then I had two other opportunities to win the game before that, so it was just a special moment to be able to seal the win. I picked Coach up and all my teammates jumped on me. We deserved to win that game and I feel like I helped us do that.”
Udo’s impressive rookie season drew national attention and, in the current landscape of college athletics, she could have sought opportunities to play for other programs. But Udo’s roots are cemented in San Antonio with the Roadrunners.
“Even though I may have had the opportunity, it never really crossed my mind,” she said. “I love it here. I love our coaching staff. I think we have a really elite coaching staff and a really elite team. I love San Antonio. Coach and the coaching staff have done nothing but put their trust in me, so I’m just here to make them proud.”
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If her first year and a half as a college basketball player are any indication, Udo has a long future ahead of her in the game. But when the ball stops bouncing, it should come as no surprise that she aspires to work in a career field focused on helping others.
Udo is majoring in medical humanities within the College of Liberal and Fine Arts. She long considered a career in nursing, but is since exploring the possibility of pursuing a career in sports medicine.
“Since I’ve been part of college athletics, I’ve been really interested in sports medicine and it’s been crossing my mind a lot,” she said. “I definitely still want to be in the medical field, but if possible, I want to do something like sports medicine or sports physical therapy, maybe helping rehab injured athletes.”
As long as she can remember, Udo has been focused on the medical field, inspired by her mother’s lengthy career as a nurse.
“I’ve never really been interested in anything else,” Udo said. “I always watched the medical shows. My mom’s been a nurse for over 20 years, so that’s another big factor that influences me. It’s just something that I feel like I’ve been called to do. I feel like I was meant to be in the medical field. I really love basketball, so if I can combine working in the medical field along with sports, that would be really fun for me.”
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Udo considers every member of the UTSA women’s basketball program to be her family. But that will take on even more meaning next season when her younger sister, Sema, joins the team.
“Honestly, it’s a dream come true,” Udo said. “I’m extremely excited to have my little sister with me, especially going through college basketball. There are going to be a lot of ups and downs for her coming into college and I’m just glad I can be here with her and kind of guide her since I have a head start on the process.”
Sema Udo has been a two-time First-Team All-District selection at Plano East Senior High and has been named her team’s Most Valuable Player each of the last two seasons. Aston is looking forward to having both Udo sisters take the court for her team next year.
“I’m super excited about that,” Aston said. “I kind of see the same things in Sema that I saw in Idara. They both have fun-loving personalities and they’re competitive. Sema is a different type of player. She’s more of a three or four as she’s built. Obviously, it will be a learning curve for her to get to the level that we play at, but I’m excited about her future.”
For Idara Udo, it’s not just the addition of a sibling on her team, but a chance to welcome her closest friend to the program she loves so much.
“My whole life, she’s just been my best friend,” Idara Udo said. “Through thick and then, through everything we’ve been through, she’s my favorite person. I’m just excited that I get to play college basketball with my favorite person.”
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Thirteen games into the 2024-25 season, Udo has helped lead the charge in what the Roadrunners will be a historic campaign. She has started all 13 contests, averaging 7.2 points per game and 5.8 rebounds per game. Udo has scored in double figures on four occasions this year and continues to work hard to expand her game.
“I feel like I’ve gained versatility from last season to this season,” she said. “I think I’m taking more outside shots and I’ve attempted a few threes this year, as well. I think I’ve improved on my defense in terms of my defensive IQ. I’m more comfortable doing more stuff besides just being a low post.”
While Aston is pleased by Udo’s continual development and commitment, she still sees much more potential in her standout sophomore.
“She’s pretty serious about what she does,” Aston said. “She’s one of those who takes prep seriously and takes the scout seriously. That’s kind of unique for a kid her age. Normally, it’s probably another year from now before they really understand game plans and all of that. But I still think her ceiling is super high. She’s got a lot more that she’ll get from being in the gym on a daily basis.”
Just like her teammates, Udo isn’t motivated by individual accomplishments. She’s focused on helping her UTSA team reach new heights.
“I think that our team has endless possibility and endless potential,” Udo said. “I think this year’s team has a different mindset – a hungry mindset with unfinished business. Even though our program made history last year, we knew we could have gone further.
“I’m really excited to see how far we go this year because I know that everybody on our team has put in the work and I think we’re going to get rewarded for the work that we’ve put in. That’s our mindset this year – yes, we know we can go far, but let’s do more.”
Udo has been on the forefront of pushing UTSA to its historic start. With Wednesday’s win against Charlotte, this year’s Roadrunners have now matched the best start in school history with the 1985-86 team. Countless milestones have already been achieved with more to come.
“It’s kind of hard to wrap your mind around it,” Udo said. “I think it’s incredible. I didn’t really know much about UTSA’s history when I came here, but it was very evident to me when I first started playing that we were going to have the opportunity to make history. It’s special to put work in and grow a program and make a program proud, because that’s something no one can take away from you. It’s something you’ll be a part of for the rest of your life.”
Through the lens with which Udo views every aspect of her life, she believes that the biggest key to the Roadrunners’ record-breaking success will be their family-like bond.
“Family, to me, is everything,” Udo said. “Not only blood family, but the family I’ve created coming to UTSA, on and off the court. Our team is a big family and my teammates are like sisters. That reflects on the court. Our chemistry that we’ve built throughout these years shows on the court. Family is the way to everything. I just love all my family – my UTSA family and my family at home.”