PLAYMAKER
Star basketball player is also a wife, mother of a toddler, and nursing student
By Soni Brown | Photography by Tanya Fabian | May 22, 2025
ON A WARM and windy March afternoon, Alisha Little was on the basketball court at CSU Pueblo’s Massari Arena to play her last regular season home game. She drove past a Colorado School of Mines player and laid the ball gently off the backboard. Two more points for the Thunderwolves – now up by 23 in the third quarter.
Little, a celebrated forward, jogged back on defense. She was focused and ready to strike – knees bent, eyes surveying the court. Only when Coach Tommie Johnson called her to the bench in the last quarter did Little’s face soften. She smiled as her teammates extended the lead to 27. Across the court sat Little’s 2-year-old daughter, Genesis, alongside her parents, in-laws, and husband, Malcolm. They form what one student journalist calls “the village that makes Alisha possible.”
It works. In January, Little was named 2024 Collegiate Women’s Athlete of the Year by the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame. It is only the second time a CSU Pueblo student-athlete has gained the prestigious honor; Yasmine Hernandez, a national champion middle-distance runner, was the state’s 2022 Collegiate Women’s Athlete of the Year.
Little’s recognition comes along with other postseason praise: She was named the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year and a First-Team All-America selection by the Division II Conference Commissioners Association. She is the all-time leading shot blocker in both the state of Colorado and at CSU Pueblo. Little set single-season school records for scoring (723), scoring average (24.9), field goals made (258), and blocked shots (116) and was the only Division II women’s basketball player to score more than 700 points, pull down 300 rebounds, and block 100 shots in the 2024-2025 season.
Yet, this remarkable player has had an unconventional path to success on the collegiate court. She is a wife, the mother of a toddler – and, in August, will earn a bachelor’s degree in nursing, one of CSU Pueblo’s best known and most rigorous fields of study. Her commitment is reflected in yet another honor: Little was named to the Women’s Basketball All-Academic Honor Roll in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
During a March pregame drill, Johnson watched Little direct her teammates. “Alisha’s a superhero,” her coach said. “Her natural athletic ability is on par with anybody in the country. But it’s how she balances everything – she’s carved out a demanding major in nursing while being a mom, a wife, and an athlete.”
Alisha Little is a star basketball player at CSU Pueblo and was named the 2024 Collegiate Women’s Athlete of the Year by the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame.
In fact, Little came to CSU Pueblo largely because she saw the ability to emphasize both her life as a student-athlete and her academic studies. Here, she is among nearly 600 students involved in intercollegiate sports – or about 15 percent of the campus population of 3,700. The university has accommodated both her ambitions. “The nursing program here allows me to prioritize my education while still competing at a high level,” she explained.
But her choice to attend CSU Pueblo came as a surprise to her family. Little grew up in Aurora and attended Grandview High School, where she and her basketball team won two state championships. She started her collegiate career at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, where she met her husband, Malcolm, who also played basketball at the school.
At UNC, Little was named Big Sky Conference MVP as a sophomore. Then, she changed course: Little entered the transfer portal and decided on CSU Pueblo prior to the 2021-2022 season.
Her father, Andra Davis, was at first astounded. “She’s so athletic and so dominant,” said Davis, who played one season with the Denver Broncos as a linebacker and a total of 10 seasons in the NFL. “She’s played against girls now in the WNBA, like Angel Reese, and she is just as good.”
Yet, Little has always been a student at heart, her dad said. And her grandfather, Vernon Davis, wisely advised Little to put education first. “One thing I always told her when she was talking about leaving UNC was, you go for your education,” he recalled. “If you get hurt today, it’s over with. But if you got your education, they can’t ever take it away from you.”
Photo: CSU Pueblo.
She decided to pursue nursing after seeing relatives and family friends in the field – and its opportunities and importance appeal to Little. “Nurses are the main line between the patient and everybody else within the medical team,” she explained. “I’ve always wanted to do something more personal, to connect with patients, and be there through the whole process of taking care of them.”
Her mother, Monique Davis, recalled Little’s interest in medicine from an early age. “I had a C-section with my youngest daughter, and Alisha was showing me how the doctors would do it,” Davis said.
Little has not settled on a specialty but has a passion for working with women and children. “At the very beginning, I wanted to be in labor and delivery. Now I’m leaning toward pediatrics. I loved my clinical rotation at Children’s Hospital,” she said. And she hasn’t ruled out going back to school after working for a time.
Little transferred to CSU Pueblo because the university offered her the opportunity to equally prioritize her nursing studies and her commitments as a student-athlete.
Even with her dedication, the path hasn’t always been smooth. When Little announced her pregnancy before the 2022-2023 season, Johnson was momentarily devastated. “I was down for about two days before I told myself I got to get up and find a way,” the coach recalled. “We had built the next year’s team around her. We thought we had a chance to make a real run on a national level.”
Little redshirted that season, supporting her teammates from the sidelines as her pregnancy progressed. Her return to basketball after giving birth wasn’t immediately triumphant. Johnson remembered a moment during preseason conditioning when Little, struggling to regain her form, asked him to let up on her. “No, we’re not going to do that,” Johnson replied. “You told me you wanted to be dominant, and I’m not going to let you drop that over a couple of tough weeks.”
Little was soon back to her dominant self, beginning what Johnson described as one of her best seasons, in 2023-2024. “I think it’s just the motivation,” Little said of her comeback. “Trying to make sure that I prove to myself that I can still do it at that level. Maybe it’s trying to make sure that my daughter knows that you can do whatever you put your mind to.”
Time management is Little’s biggest challenge. A typical day during basketball season started when her husband, Malcolm, left for work at 5:30 a.m. Little was on mom duty until early afternoon, when her sister took over with babysitting. Then, Little raced to class, followed by basketball practice at 4 p.m. She arrived home around 7:15 to make dinner if Malcolm hadn’t already done so. Then, Little tackled homework while Malcolm got their daughter ready for bed. Little finally fell asleep around 11 p.m. before starting again the next day. Her parents often drove from Metro Denver to fill in the inevitable gaps.
What motivates Little during grueling days? Initially, it was purely her passion for nursing. Now, there’s an added layer. “This is going to be my livelihood and how I’ll be able to help take care of my family,” she said.
At the final buzzer of Little’s last regular season home game, the Thunderwolves had secured an 82-62 victory. Little was surrounded by fans who had traveled from Denver to watch her play. They admired the framed jersey and flowers she’d been presented before tipoff – a college tradition for seniors. Later, she reflected, “Having everybody say how much I’ve encouraged their children, their daughters – that was nice to know.”
Little, with her 2-year-old daughter, Genesis, has a close family network that has supported her efforts to juggle nursing studies, basketball, and parenting.
That evening, the Littles’ apartment buzzed with energy as Genesis, with a tiny Minnie Mouse bow on her head, tried to dip her finger into the frosting of a rose-themed cupcake. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse played in the background as family and close friends gathered to celebrate the toddler’s second birthday.
Malcolm arrived with pizza boxes balanced in one hand as he greeted people with the other. He put down the boxes and lifted his daughter with the ease of an effortless move on the basketball court.
“I couldn’t be prouder of her,” Malcolm said of his wife. “Being named the 2024 Collegiate Women’s Athlete of the Year by the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame is an amazing accomplishment, especially considering everything she’s juggling.”
When asked how they manage it all – school, athletics, parenting, work – Malcolm doesn’t hesitate. He points to the people in the room.
“Who wins when you play one-on-one?” someone asked the couple.
“Me,” Little answered immediately.
Malcolm laughed. “She’s very comfortable saying that.”
For all the points scored and accolades earned, this moment – surrounded by family and balancing multiple dreams – is Alisha Little’s most impressive achievement.
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