Ricky Austin remembers a call from his wife, Dana, who was pregnant with Ace Austin at the time.

He remembers his wife nervously telling him about a recent trip to the doctor, who said Ace’s heart was a little too big for the rest of body.

How did Ricky react to the phone call?

“I did not take that as a negative, I had a fist pump,” he remembered. “I said, ‘Man, we know we got a big heart.”

About 18 years after that phone call, Ace showed heart yet again in the Panthers’ Class 1A state title game win over Brilliant; of course, part of it was a double-double for 40 points and 10 rebounds.

Aside from hoisting a blue map on Thursday, one of her biggest smiles of the day came from the bench when sophomore Lacie McMurray hit a 3-point basket in the game’s closing seconds.

“That always stood out to me thinking about what’s inside of her that y’all don’t get to see a lot,” the Spring Garden coach said of his daughter. “What an unbelievable big heart she’s got, and that, that’s what makes her who she is.”

McMurray is one of the many teammates Ace was quick to credit for her tremendous basketball career in the state of Alabama.

“It’s been because of all the support I’ve had through the years,” the reigning Miss Basketball award winner said. “Obviously it’s going to be an emotional press conference, because these are the best people that have ever been put in my life, really.

“They support me through everything and they’re just as proud of me, as the random people that’s on the side of the street that’s proud of me, and I’m just glad they’ve been a part of my journey. I couldn’t ask for a better coach.”

The Alabama signee heads to her new program with a historic 203-10 record as a player, according to the AHSAA, and was named the MVP in all three of the Panthers’ last three state basketball championship games; she also helped the team win its 2020 state title.

Her totals add up to 3,940 points, 1,382 rebounds, 1,429 assists and 863 steals, according to the AHSAA, averaging 26.5 points per game this year.

What’s one of the keys to motivating her?

“We’ve always been the group that we do not like losing,” she recalled of her days on the playground as a kid. “I’m talking about playing capture the flag, if we lost, it was the end of the world for us. This whole season, we said we’re not here just to be here, it’s a business trip. We wanted to make history at our school.

“It really was for the community and the name across our chest.”

A humble coach and person, Ricky was quick to put his daughter among the best in the state, and rightfully so, especially after a 40-point game for the 2-25 Miss Basketball frontrunner.

Even beyond the court, he can’t help but smile when thinking about Ace’s impact.

“It’s been an honor to coach her,” Ricky said. “The legacy that she’s left, you can talk about points, you can talk about championships, but all the road trips that we took this year, and no matter where we were, we come out of the locker room and little boys, little girls, lined up wanting her to autograph shoes and autograph hats and autograph basketballs, and how she influenced those kids, and how I think they look at maybe an undersized player, but somebody that’s committed and worked hard.

“I think she’s affected a lot of people in our state because of that. To me, that’s an unbelievable legacy that you can affect so many people.”

While the one-of-a-kind player has cemented herself among the best in Alabama high school basketball history, the coach hopes for young athletes to take what his daughter’s put on the court and apply it.

“Moving forward, maybe we’ll see some more Ace Austins out on the court one day,” he smiled.