By Jeff Griesch
Nebraska Athletic Communications
One of the first missions of any successful team is to build a strong sense of family. The Nebraska women's basketball program works each season to form bonds to unify all the members of the team so they are prepared to overcome challenges on and off the court.
Freshman Annika Stewart brings an extensive basketball family background to her first season as a Husker. The first commitment in Nebraska's seven-player group of newcomers for the 2020-21 season, Stewart made her intentions known in July of 2019.
Now, almost a year later, she is on campus and chomping at the bit to get her college career started by helping to build great team chemistry this summer with her Husker teammates.
"I couldn't be more excited," Stewart said the day before her first workout as a Husker. "I've been waiting for my college experience for a while, and I'm pumped to start working and being with the team."
Nebraska's 2020-21 team includes six returning players, and Stewart knows one of the Huskers' first tasks is to develop team unity and a sense of family.
"We will all be learning and adjusting a lot," Stewart said. "But I think that all seven of our different experiences along with the returning players will mesh well and give us a unique advantage above other teams."
Part of Stewart's confidence in Nebraska's ability to develop unity comes from her experiences as a member of a basketball family. That basketball family background meshes well with Husker Coach Amy Williams, who also comes from a tight-knit basketball family of her own that includes a father who was a high school coach, a sister who is college coach in Minnesota and a husband who was a long-time college coach.
"Annika comes from a basketball family, which has led to a highly skilled and high IQ basketball player," Williams said. "She has been around coaches and teams her entire life, and she understands what it means to be a great teammates. She knows what makes good teams thrive."
Annika's older sister, Hannah, was a four-year contributor at Iowa. As a senior starter, Hannah helped Iowa to a Big Ten Tournament title by earning a spot on the Big Ten All-Tournament Team. It wasn't always picture-perfect for Hannah at Iowa, including a freshman season in which Hannah played in just 12 games and a career that included three seasons as a non-starter. Annika knows she has learned a lot from the challenges that her older sister faced as a college basketball player.
"Hannah has helped me in so many ways," Annika said. "We are very close and watching her go through four years, just hearing about all the ups and downs, has prepared me for what to look out for. Any questions I have, I go to her first and she always knows what to say. She had a challenging, yet rewarding four years, and I hope I can learn from her to make my experience the best it can be."
After watching her older sister's high school career culminate with Miss Basketball honors in the state of North Dakota and a third straight state tournament MVP award at Bishop Ryan Catholic in Minot, Annika began her own high school career as an eighth grader in 2015-16. Her mother, Julie (Wald) Stewart, was the Class B Coach of the Year in 2015 after leading Bishop Ryan to its third straight state title. Julie had also played her high school basketball at Bishop Ryan before heading off to the University of North Dakota to compete in both basketball and track in the late 1980s.
Annika's father, Peter Stewart, is also a basketball coach. Peter was a long-time junior college head coach at Peninsula College in Port Angeles, Wash. When Annika was a toddler, Peter was the head men's coach while Julie was the head women's coach at Peninsula. In 2010, Peter accepted the men's head coaching position at Minot State to plant the family firmly back in North Dakota.
The competitive nature of the Stewart family, which also includes who older brother, Eli, who will be a junior at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., in 2020-21, went beyond the basketball court.
"My siblings and I are very close, and we grew up in a very competitive home," Annika said. "When I was younger, they never let me win at anything. We would race up our hill and I would always lose, then cry about it."
Annika spent both her eighth grade and freshman seasons at Bishop Ryan, playing for her mom. The family connections at Bishop Ryan go even deeper, as five of Julie's brothers (Annika's uncles) also played high school basketball for the Lions.
After coming off the bench as an eighth grader, Annika averaged 15.2 points and 7.1 rebounds per game as a freshman for Bishop Ryan. She earned all-region and all-conference honors while helping Bishop Ryan to a 20-5 record in 2016-17. Julie Stewart improved her six-year record as a head coach at Bishop Ryan to 145-14.
Despite multi-generational ties to Bishop Ryan, the Stewart family moved to Minneapolis prior to Annika's sophomore season. Julie became an assistant coach and math teacher at Wayzata High School in Plymouth, Minn.
Peter continued to stay close to the game after ending his college coaching career at Minot State in 2012. He has served as the director of player development for the Wayzata Basketball Association and was involved with the North Tartan summer basketball program that not only produced his daughters Hannah and Annika, but also current Husker junior guard Sam Haiby.
Annika became a starting forward on the varsity for one of the power teams in the state at Wayzata, continuing to play and train with her basketball family. The move not only put Annika up against a higher level of competition day-in and day-out, it also helped prepare her mentally for her transition to college life.
"It was definitely hard leaving my closest friends and family right before my sophomore year, but the move really taught me a lot," Stewart said. "Just the ability to adjust will help me a lot in college. I also think that being away from friends and family is never easy, but I know I'm joining my second family here in Nebraska."
In her first season at Wayzata in 2017-18, Stewart averaged 10.0 points and 6.0 rebounds for the 25-3 Trojans to earn All-Lake Conference honors. Her numbers improved as a junior, when she averaged 12.2 points and 7.0 rebounds for 26-3 Wayzata, while capturing All-Lake Conference and All-Metro honors.
Her first two seasons in Minnesota helped prepare her for a huge end to her senior season in 2019-20. Stewart averaged 20.0 points, 8.1 rebounds and 1.8 assists while hitting 65.5 percent of her two-point field goal attempts and 41.5 percent (39-94) of her threes. She was also nearly a 90 percent free throw shooter (51-57). She led Wayzata to a 24-5 record with three losses to national No. 1 Hopkins and Gatorade National Player of the Year Paige Bueckers.
"I was very grateful for the competition I was able to face in Minnesota," Stewart said. "Hopkins is a very talented team, and being our biggest rival, I was always so pumped going into that game. Just going up against that type of talent will help me transition into collegiate basketball."
Midway through her senior season, Stewart and the Trojans were challenged by the loss of their team's leading scorer to an ACL injury. Stewart stepped up in a big way, averaging 25 points per contest over that 12-game span. Stewart's response to the loss of her injured teammate helped her realize another level in her own game.
"I think my game really turned around when our star player got hurt," Stewart said. "It was very unfortunate because she was such a presence on the floor and was our leading scorer. I knew I had to step up in more ways than one. Being a leader on the team, I am most proud of how we overcame challenges and fought with all we had."
A first-team Minnesota Class 4A All-State selection, Stewart erupted for a season-high 36 points in a sectional semifinal win over St. Louis Park. That effort came after scoring 27 points in a win over Armstrong to open the 4A playoffs.
"As a senior, Annika really showed the versatility she has as a basketball player," Nebraska Coach Amy Williams said. "She is a confident and consistent perimeter threat. She has the ability to score around the basket and makes good decisions on the court."
Stewart's career culminated with 27 points in a season-ending loss to Hopkins in the 6-4A sectional championship game. Although her season ended in a loss, Stewart appreciates the fact that it may have been a blessing in disguise for the Trojans because they got to play their season to completion, rather than having COVID-19 end her high school career.
"I'm very fortunate that I got to finish my basketball season and did not end with an unknown. I couldn't imagine making it to the state championship and not being able to play," Stewart said. "I'm also blessed that my family, friends and I have remained healthy in regards to COVID-19. We went to online school, and we were not able to go on spring break, have prom or graduation. I was pretty bummed about a lot of events that did not take place, but I try to look at the bright side of it, like how I was able to spend a lot of time with my family and friends."
Stewart continued to work out and train five days a week during the spring despite going without gym access. She did her training on the turf fields at Wayzata High School, while getting her basketball work in on outdoor courts near her house.
She arrived in Nebraska in early June to begin the process to get ready for voluntary workouts with her Husker teammates. She immediately started bonding with her new Husker family, including her roommate, fellow freshman Whitney Brown.
"Whitney and I have been going for runs and going to study hall from 1 to 4 p.m. to work on our Nutrition 101 class," Stewart said. "I am very excited to work out and get back in the gym."
While Stewart starts the work of building her new Nebraska basketball family together with her teammates, she is confident that her own family will be along for the ride.
"I'd be surprised if my parents missed a game," Stewart said. "They went to every game of Hannah's that they could. If they missed one of Hannah's games it was to watch one of mine."
