Former Elon Women’s Basketball Standout Ford Signs Professional Contract Inbox

ELON, N.C. – Former Elon women’s basketball standout Ali Ford ’13 recently signed a contract to play professional basketball in Iceland. The Morganton, N.C., native will play in Hveragerdi, Iceland, for the Hamar women’s basketball team, which is a part of the Iceland-Dominos League.

“I’m really excited to even have this opportunity,” said Ford. “I’m going to go and make the best of it. Not everyone gets this opportunity after college. Even though it didn’t work out right after I graduated, it’s still what I want to do.”

“Elon prepared in me in both aspects of my life so far. It prepared me to work in the real world for a few years and now I’m using my collegiate playing experience as I go overseas. I couldn’t be more grateful to all the people at Elon. Everyone I ever had a relationship with while I was a student-athlete has prepared me in some way to get to this point.”

Since graduating in 2013, Ford has never given up on her dream to play professional basketball. Working two jobs and often going to the gym after 9 p.m. to stay in shape, she believes her determination will help her with the pressures she’ll face as a professional athlete and make up for any lack of experience over the years.

She has experience playing internationally from when she traveled to Europe with the Elon team in the summer of 2011 and recently when she represented the United States in the FIBA William Jones Cup this past summer. As a member of Team USA, Ford played in the international tournament in Taipei, Taiwan, against national teams of South Korea, Japan, New Zealand and Chinese Taipei. She thinks that experience will help her with the physical difference between collegiate and professional basketball.

Ford finished her basketball career at Elon second on the program’s all-time scoring list and seventh on the Southern Conference list with 2,020 points. A three-year captain, she owns Elon and the SoCon’s three-point record (338 three-pointers) and is one of only five players in SoCon history to earn all-SoCon honors four times. Ford was two-sport athlete for the Phoenix, also playing for the Elon softball program from 2012-2014. She earned her degree in sport and event management from Elon in May 2013.