Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — During her junior year of high school, Nina Rickards walked into her head coach's office and delivered a bold message.

"I want to start,'' she said.

Rickards had replaced a teammate who was out with the flu against a nationally ranked team. Before the game, her coach encouraged the team to try not to lose by 15 with Rickards slated to start instead.

Motivated by the minimalist expectations, Rickards had something far different in mind. She scored 27 points, locked down the other team's best player, and led Christ the King (N.Y.) Regional High School, a school where Sue Bird, Lamar Odom and, as Gator fans may remember, Erving Walker donned jerseys — to victory.

The next day was hardly the first time Rickards, a junior guard set to start Saturday when the Gators women's basketball team faces UCF in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, voiced her desire for improving her station in life.

Go back toward the end of her freshman year of high school. Rickards asked a question that would set off a new living situation and forever transform her relationship with Jessica Villaplana, her travel basketball coach and future guardian.

Rickards called Villaplana and asked a big question: "Can I move in with you?"

Initially surprised at the question, Villaplana was willing to welcome a new housemate so long as Rickards' mom agreed.

She still admires Rickards' gutsy request today.

"She wanted something better for herself," said Villaplana, whom Rickards calls "Jess."

Rickards had spent a few days at her grandmother's while her mom spent time in the hospital after a car accident. Upon release from the hospital, the mom and daughter returned to their living space to see a huge shock.

All their belongings were outside on the ground. Workers had moved everything — from Nina's basketball trophies to her winter coat — from inside their home. To make matters worse, before Rickards and her mother could go back to the hospital room, a storm erupted from the sky above. They had been evicted, and all those belongings got drenched, with some left unsalvageable.

With her home disrupted, Rickards moved in with her paternal grandmother, who was sick.

Life was chaotic.

After Nina talked with Jess about her struggles, Villaplana spoke with Rickards' mom about the temporary move. They all agreed for Nina's sake.

"I wasn't a goody two shoes," Rickards said. "I was a bad kid. I was getting in trouble at school; just off-the-court problems. Basketball-wise, I would say I was distracted because I wasn't at my full potential, but that's everybody when they first start."

And in ways, Rickards' life always lacked an element of structure. She often roamed free, hanging out with friends whenever she wanted.

Sometimes, Rickards spent her days playing pick-up basketball for fun on the streets Queens.

The boys underestimated her at first, but once Rickards and her male cousins got their turn on the court, she showed she could compete. She was good — so good that Rickards said she would get posted on social media, with people showing crazy highlights, and tagging Rickards with captions like: "I'd put money on her."

Still, the love for basketball didn't come right away.

In the summer of seventh grade, Rickards joined the Philadelphia Belles basketball club, where Villaplana coached for years. There was no indication between Nina and Jess about their future connection. Villaplana saw a kid trying to find her way in a rough-and-tumble world.

"She was always in survival mode and defense, and so, 'I have to take care of myself and look out for myself,' " Villaplana said.

If pushed, Rickards would push back. One time she hit a boy in school who was bullying her. She would skip practices to hang out with friends. Belles head coach Devon Ray became like a father figure to her over time; discipline is not always fun, though. Sometimes she resisted good advice.

Rickards kept her focus. She posted high enough grades in middle school for Villaplana to help her enroll at Christ the King through a program that helps socio-economically underprivileged kids who have qualifying grades enroll in Catholic schools.

Villaplana is a no-nonsense woman. The lifelong Queens resident and former Division I basketball player St. Francis College and on the Puerto Rican National Team lives the life of an alpha — demand what you want, but ideally, do it politely. "I always give it to her because she made that phone call," Villaplana said. "I didn't have legal guardianship over her, and she could have just left any given day."

At first, the plan was for Rickards to stay with Villaplana for a couple of weeks prior to her sophomore year beginning.

But Rickards never left.

Villaplana went from living an independent lifestyle with no kids, to setting rules for a high schooler. The arrangement was difficult for Rickards, too, living in someone else's home under their rules. Rickards did her best to be respectful. She took out the garbage and made sure to lock the door.

She had to be home by a certain time, and communicate with Villaplana about her whereabouts (something she still does when she visits New York for safety reasons).

"It was weird at first," Rickards said. "But then, like we spoke, and she opened up to me. She was like, 'I don't want you to feel uncomfortable.' "

After that conversation, they found their groove.

In her college application essay, Rickards wrote that she didn't always understand the rules imposed on her. But she chose to believe it was what was best for her and her future. Villaplana said she was impressed by the maturity Rickards displayed at such a young age.

Most importantly, Rickards finally had a permanent room and a place to call home. The often started their day together over breakfast. This gave them time to talk and a routine. Afterward, Jess or Villaplana's mom would drop Rickards off at the train station. From there, she'd catch two train rides and one bus to school.

She made the necessary sacrifices with a better future in mind.

"Trust me, I didn't want to be on the bus," Rickards said.

Gators head coach Kelly Rae Finley, at the time the recruiting coordinator at Arizona, already knew Villaplana when she accidentally met a skinny freshman named Nina when plans on a recruiting trip got altered.

Finley advised Rickards about all the hard work and sacrifices required to succeed.

"I think that trip opened her eyes to, 'Wow, this is really crazy. I could do this,' " Finley said.

Rickards heard what Finley was saying.

Living far from her old neighborhood meant Rickards possessed less time to hang out with her old friends. Some of them clowned her for spending so much time on school and basketball. They called her a gym rat.

"It'll all pay off guys," Rickards told them.

Then as now, Villaplana encouraged Nina to seek positive distractions: "Always be around people who are about you, and support you, and hold you accountable."

Over time, their relationship deepened and they became family. Meanwhile, Rickards put her head down and worked toward the better future that she believed possible.

"I can tell [Jess] loves me; she brought me into her family. I call her parents my grandparents," Rickards said. "We travel together, go to Puerto Rico, we do everything, so it's just another family."

Eventually, Rickards received a key for her grandparents' house, where Jess's niece had moved in at a similar time to Nina's move. They have opposite personalities, but being the same age, the duo bonded like cousins.

Life was looking up as Rickards began to open up.

She developed a relationship with Claire Droesch, her late high school assistant coach who passed away from breast cancer. Droesch, a former Boston College standout, told Rickards to trust her beautiful shot and provided tough love. After Rickards zoned in on lifting weights over her sophomore summer to stand out in a sport she started to love, Droesch had a message that made Rickards beam.

"You're becoming the person I see you as," Droesch told her.

Droesch is the reason Rickards told Finley she would not come to UF unless she could wear No. 15, a request UF granted. Rickards has proven to be worthy, averaging 7.7 points and 4.8 rebounds entering the NCAA Tournament.

As Nina's guardian, Villaplana has tried to set a good example and assure she doesn't live paycheck to paycheck. As someone with a history of working with underprivileged kids, she's seen the tough cycle and the joy of her players pushing their way out. Recently, a player from the Bronx whom Villaplana coached and mentored completed a transformation from being in a gang to buying a house.

"My path was probably always to help certain kids," Villaplana said.

Rickards is the one and only to live with her.

After moving in, Rickards won student of the month. Her Catholic teacher commented to Villaplana that Rickards donated money, something she had never done before. Though Rickards takes on the traits of an alpha New York girl, she's also lighthearted.

"She's very sweet, and that's not something that you might see on the court because she's a competitor," Finley said. "She's from New York. So she's savvy. She knows how to get things done. She's self-sufficient. But she loves her people. And when she loves her people, she loves them hard."

They love her, too. Rickards has secured extra tickets for Saturday's game against UCF for family and friends planning to make the trip to Connecticut. "It's really exciting. I have about 16 people coming, so if you guys see or hear some New Yorkers in the crowd, they're for me,'' Rickards said Friday. "They will make it known. I can't wait to make them proud."

Though she pampered Rickards like the daughter she doesn't have, Villaplana put her foot down on Rickards when she felt she needed to. A partner in law firm, Villaplana would take away privileges, even though it hurt her to do so. Even as recently as last year, Villaplana called Finley and asked her to collect Nina's keys from her. Finley laughed, and agreed.

Between the turbulence of COVID-19 life and hanging with the wrong people, Rickards was going through a rough patch in the classroom and on the court.

Despite the car's deed being in her name, Rickards turned the keys into Finley.

"That structure provided me with comfort and I just eased into it," Rickards said. "And literally, with a blink of an eye, it's been like five years since [moving in], and like to this day I still like when I go to New York, I go to her house."

While her life has improved, Rickards always makes time for her mother on trips to New York.

Villaplana credits Rickards' mother, rather than herself, for instilling such a strong work ethic in her daughter. Nina's mother never gave up on working, trying to make ends meet in an expensive city by working at a hospital. Her efforts reflect in both Nina and her older sister, who's attending nursing school right now.

"My mom has a big part to do with where I am today," Rickards said. "And it goes unnoticed sometimes. I hope she knows that I appreciate everything that she did for me and I love her for that."

In many ways, Rickards has two moms since making that phone call years ago. In order to be able to watch No. 15 play, Villaplana took time off from coaching. She plans to return to the bench after Rickards graduates with an undetermined Master's in a few years. The guardian has visited Gainesville to attend games so many times this season that she jokes she barely has any time to miss Rickards.

"I think our lives crossed at the right time," Villaplana said. "My mother says we're soulmates. She's a soulmate with my family. She was always meant to be part of the family."