Gabby Fage thinks she has an American accent.
Most people that have grown up stateside would probably disagree.
But the senior guard on the ASU women’s basketball team, who is a native of Australia, insists she’s picked up a “twang” during the past four years while she has made her home in America.
“I go home to Australia, and people are like, ‘What part of the States are you from?’” Fage said. “[I have to tell them] I’m not American. I can hear it — certain words I say I really have the American roll to them. If you put me next to another Aussie, I sound really American.”
Fage was introduced to ASU during her senior year of high school when her traveling team played the Sun Devils in an exhibition game.
The recruiting process began, and Fage decided to make the big move to the desert.
It wasn’t just a leap of faith. It was a leap to an entirely different continent.
Since she had no relatives in the U.S., Fage began to rely on her new Sun Devil family while she adjusted to American culture.
“The coaches are so friendly, and they genuinely care about your well-being off the court as well as on,” Fage said. “I think that was a big deal, especially coming so far away from home and not really having that close family in the States at all. To have that here was a big plus.”
Fage was used sparingly during her first three years in Tempe, but the season-ending knee injury to starting point guard Dymond Simon last March immediately pushed Fage into a bigger role just in time for the NCAA Tournament.
Her shining moment came in the Sun Devils’ second-round win against Florida State, where she drained two 3-pointers in a span of 31 seconds that helped fuel an ASU rally that pushed them into the Sweet 16.
“It’s definitely different when you’re actually on the court and participating,” Fage said. “I was a member of the [previous] teams, but I hadn’t really played that much, so that was a big, big deal last year. It was really fun.”
Fage was expected to be a key reserve guard for the Sun Devils this year, but injuries to her knee and nose limited her to just 13 games this season, and she will not suit up the rest of the year.
“It’s definitely really tough,” Fage said. “Basketball’s been a big part of my life for the last three years, and just to finish it like this kind of sucks. But I’m still a big part of the team.”
But Fage has still provided leadership in other ways by conducting meetings with the guards, making sure the players read their scouting reports and by encouraging to her teammates.
“She’s handled [the injury] with a lot of grace,” ASU coach Charli Turner Thorne said.
Fage plans to return to Australia for good in August, but she said she has grown immensely from her experience at ASU both on and off the court.
“I really think I’ve become a completely different person,” Fage said. “I go home and I’m so much more mature and capable than a lot of my friends who still live at home and go to school back there. I’m just a lot more confident in myself and my own abilities and my strengths and weaknesses. It just kind of makes you find yourself.”
Reach the reporter at gina.mizell@asu.edu
