Ten years ago, if someone asked Nikitta Gartrell what she would be doing now, playing college basketball would probably have been the last thing to cross her mind. But one afternoon many years ago, Nikitta took a walk with her brother, Mario Gartrell, to the neighborhood basketball court – and she has been in love with the game since.

“Everything Mario did, I wanted to do. One day, the boys were one man short, so my brother says ‘I’ll pick my little sister,” Gartrell said. “All the guys couldn’t believe he was picking a girl.”

Gartrell, who often goes by Kitta, had never picked up a basketball, never dribbled or even taken a shot. From childhood, she was always told that she couldn’t play sports because she was too uncoordinated. But she made the first shot she took, and basketball was all uphill from there.

She played on her middle school team, then went on to win the state basketball championship her freshman year of high school. When colleges started contacting her during her sophomore year, Nikitta knew she was on to something big. She knew she could play college basketball.

But a long road stood between her and N.C. State. Growing up in the inner city of Atlanta, Ga., Gartrell was always faced with adversity. She credits a woman named Danielle Livingston with a great deal of her success. Livingston was Gartrell’s brother’s social worker when he was a child, but became even closer to Nikitta, who considers her to be her aunt.

“She’s been the one main person I could talk to, she’s helped me through a lot as far as school and networking to get to college,” Gartrell said. “She’s been more than anyone could imagine, and I love her to death.”

Livingston spoke in detail about Gartrell’s childhood and how she has made the most of what she has been blessed with. She describes Gartrell as competitive, tough, inquisitive, and almost afraid to fail.”

“Kitta was a kid with a whole lot of talent surrounded by a whole lot of issues, in terms of her home life and her friends,” Livingston said. “She would go to the edge, but didn’t want to jump in – she didn’t want to be a bad person, or do any wrong.”

One day, Gartrell told Livingston that she didn’t want to be poor, to be on drugs, or to be homeless. From that day forward, Livingston took Gartrell under her wing. Gartrell uses her childhood as motivation to continue to succeed.

“My motivation is to not be the person that everyone wants me to be. I want to be something more than the typical girl that came from Atlanta, played ball in college, but didn’t do anything after,” Gartrell said.

That same motivation helped to earn her the first state title in school history at Benjamin E. Mays high school in Atlanta, where Gartrell also holds the all-time scoring title. And that same motivation has helped her work her way to becoming one of the most dangerous ACC backcourt scoring duos with teammate Shayla Fields.

Gartrell, like many other players, chose N.C. State because of the family atmosphere. Talking with coach Yow on her two day recruiting visit made her feel like she belonged at State. Every practice with Yow has become part of Gartrell’s favorite memories, especially all of Yow’s quotes.

“I’ve been told that I’m so fast, I go too fast to stop myself. So every time I would over-do something, coach Yow would just stand there and say Nikitta, slow down. Just slow down,” Gartrell said. “She would always tell me be quick, but not in a hurry, and to get my teammates involved to get me to the next level.”

Gartrell plans on taking her basketball career to the next level, and would love to play in the WNBA. Particularly, Gartrell would like to play for one of her dream teams, the Los Angeles Sparks, the Sacramento Monarchs, or the Atlanta Dream. But basketball is hardly where her aspirations end.

“I thought about coaching. But after a few years in the league, I really want to become a police officer,” Gartrell said. “I’ll go back to work for the Atlanta Police Department, and if not there, anywhere. I’ve wanted to be a cop since I was a kid.”

Gartrell continues to live by her philosophy on life: never quit.

“No matter how hard it gets, no matter the adversity you have to overcome – never quit,” Gartrell said. “Just continue to push forward, and if you feel like you don’t have any more to give, keep giving, because sooner or later, it’s going to pay off.”

Something certainly paid off for all the years of Gartrell’s hard work, and she knows it.

“Look where I am today – who would’ve ever thought,” Gartrell said.