On Tuesday, Georgia Tech sophomore Ashley Steen suited up with her Alpha Xi Delta sorority sisters for an intramural playoff basketball game at the Campus Recreation Center.
On Saturday, Steen will be with her friends and Alpha Xi Delta sisters at McCamish Pavilion, ready to watch a basketball game that will probably chew at her nerves a little more.
“I’m really excited to see my brother on my own turf,” she told me this week.
A biomedical engineering major from Panama City Beach, Fla., Steen is the younger sister of Florida State senior Alex Steen, who transferred to the Seminoles last Spring following a three-year career at Division II Florida Southern. The forward has started 24 games for Florida State, averaging 7.0 points and 5.6 rebounds per game.
“I’m hoping I’ll sit by some of my less rowdy friends,” laughed Ashley, who will also have plenty of immediate and extended family members in attendance as well. She and Alex grew up in suburban Minneapolis before moving to Panama City Beach, where their parents own a pair of seafood restaurants.
Ashley originally participated in competitive cheer in high school, though a broken ankle caused her to give up the sport heading into her junior year. She instead switched to basketball, where like Alex, she became a team captain as a senior.
“[I was] kind of inspired by him,” she told me. “I played when I was really young in the yard with him and stuff. I ended up wanting to switch over and did pretty well.”
(While Alex stands 6-9, Ashley says she’s a comparatively modest 5-8)
When her brother committed to Florida State last April, the family group text buzzed with talk about an eventual sibling showdown against Georgia Tech. The game – and all the associated stress – will finally arrive on Saturday. But no matter the outcome, Ashley will still be ready to represent the Yellow Jackets.
“It’ll be great to have a little reunion and show them around the Georgia Tech campus,” she said.
Steen isn’t only ACC player who has experienced a Georgia Tech-related sibling rivalry this year. The sister of senior guard Chas Kelley III, Claire, is a sophomore at Boston College. They overlapped for a year at BC before Chas entered the transfer portal and signed with Georgia Tech. Last year in Chestnut Hill, Kelley drilled a game-winning three-pointer against Florida State with 3.7 seconds left to cap a comeback from an eight-point deficit in the final minute.
