Vanderbilt women's basketball recruit Autumn Newby is a tower of strength and skill at 6 feet, 2 inches. But there was a time when being small saved her life.
Autumn, the youngest of three siblings, was just 6 years old when she, her sister, Madison, her brother, Jaylen, and some other kids were playing in the Newby family's backyard in Lawrenceville, Georgia. Autumn was sitting in a tire swing that hung from a large oak tree while other kids climbed the branches.
Suddenly, there was a sickening thud ... and screams.
The tree had broken apart, and a large chunk of it came hurtling toward little Autumn.
"This was not a small tree, and it was decaying," said her mother, Peaches. "Fortunately, Autumn was inside the tire. The tree fell on the tire and not on her."
It took three men -- Autumn's father and uncles -- to free Autumn, who was rushed to a hospital and was fine other than a scratch on her face.
"It was like a miracle," Autumn said. "When the tree snapped, all the kids jumped off. But I couldn't move because I was inside the tire. That tree could have crushed my entire body."
Peaches said her daughter was blessed that day ... and every day since.
"Things could have gone a different way," Peaches said. "But I'm a person of faith, and I believe there is a special plan for Autumn. I believe she will be a special person, and she will be able to tell her kids that story one day."
Autumn is turning her mother into a prophet.
She has earned straight A's throughout high school and plans on becoming a pediatrician. On the court, Newby is one of the stars for Archer High (Lawrenceville, Georgia), and she is the No. 28 prospect in the espnW HoopGurlz Top 100 for the 2017 class.
Newby, who averaged 13.1 points, 13.0 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.8 steals last season as a junior, burst onto the Georgia high school basketball scene as a freshman, helping Archer reach the Class 6A state final.
But despite her excellent play, Archer has gone backward the past two seasons in terms of playoff runs, losing in the state semifinals her sophomore year and in the round of 16 last season. All three years, Archer was eliminated by eventual state champion McEachern (Powder Springs, Georgia).
This season, Archer has a new coach, Bob Westbrook, who led Etowah (Woodstock, Georgia) to the Class 4A state title in 2005.
Westbrook said the presence of Newby "played into the equation" when he decided to go for the opening at Archer. But it was more than that, Westbrook said.
"They only lost one player from a team that won 25 games last season," Westbrook said.
As for Newby, Westbrook said it hasn't taken long for her to live up to the hype. And, keep in mind, practice just started on Monday.
"Autumn is just so fluid," Westbrook said. "She does things effortlessly that usually require a great deal of effort. She still needs work on her mid-range jumper, although she has made tremendous strides there, and her ballhandling."
"It was like a miracle. When the tree snapped, all the kids jumped off. But I couldn't move because I was inside the tire. That tree could have crushed my entire body." Autumn Newby
Amy Krach, a fourth-year assistant coach at Archer and a former college assistant at Georgia Southern, said she is not surprised by what Newby has accomplished.
"She had good footwork, a good motor and good floor sense," Krach said when asked about her first impression of Newby as a freshman. "I knew right away she was going to be a big-time player."
It's interesting to note that Newby got a rather late start in organized basketball. She didn't play in her first league until she was 9, and she didn't join an AAU team until seventh grade. But there's no denying there is athleticism in the family. Former NFL safety Ryan Clark, who won a Super Bowl with the Pittsburgh Steelers, is Autumn's cousin on her mother's side.
Newby's sister, Madison, is a 5-8 sophomore guard at Georgia State. She was the Sun Belt Conference freshman of the year in 2015-16, averaging 8.6 points and leading the league in assists (5.0).
Autumn, though, is taller than anyone in her family -- her dad is 5-11 and her mom is 5-7 -- and she's probably more talented, too, although she and Madison made a great team. Madison and Autumn combined on those two Archer runs to the Georgia final four in 2014 and 2015.
But with Madison off to Georgia State, it was Autumn's turn to look for her future school. Early on, she had been visited by coaches from Georgia, LSU, Penn State, Kentucky, North Carolina State, Florida State, Duke and Stanford.
But then things changed. Stephanie White, who took the Indiana Fever to the WNBA Finals in 2015, was hired as Vanderbilt's coach on May 24. By early June, Newby had been contacted by Vanderbilt, which had not previously recruited her. And by August, Newby had committed to Vanderbilt.
"[White] wants athletic players who can get up and down the court," Newby said. "That's why she recruited me, and it was a great fit for me.
"Vanderbilt combines great basketball with great academics. With [White] being a [former] WNBA coach, she and her amazing coaching staff are going to push me on the court. And with Vanderbilt being a great school, that's going to push me on the academic side, too."