COLLEGE PARK, Md. _ At age 9, Eric Ayala learned to be accountable. That's when his mother, Brandy Truitt, gave her only child a key to their small house in a gritty neighborhood on the west side of Wilmington, Del. Every day after school, located just down the street from his home, he'd walk back and look after himself.
The rules were simple: No one could come in, and Ayala couldn't go out, until his mother returned from her job at the city's police department.
"I had to grow up faster" than other kids, Ayala recalled recently. "It was a lot of responsibility. She's always kind of instilled in me (the motivation) to do the right thing, make the right decisions."
More than a decade later, Ayala is doing just that for the No. 21 Maryland men's basketball team.
Entering Friday night's matchup at No. 24 Wisconsin, Ayala has started every game of his freshman season for the Terps, sharing point guard duties with junior and two-year incumbent Anthony Cowan Jr. Ayala is third on the team in minutes played (28.5 per game), second in assists (2.5 per game) and leads the Terps with a .453 3-point shooting percentage, fourth best in the Big Ten. The message his mother first conveyed has found new life in College Park.
"It's kind of translated through my whole life," said Ayala, who's also averaging 8.5 points per game. "Coach (Mark) Turgeon always tells me, 'Make the right decisions,' on and off the court. I feel that's where, I think, the trust comes from him. He trusts me to make the right decisions, whether to pass, shoot or drive."
Said Turgeon: "Eric's been an old soul since I started recruiting him. He's gotten a lot better (as a player), but his personality, who he is ... he's always been very mature."
