University of Georgia Athletics
Craft Right At Home With Lady Bulldogs
January 16, 2026 | Women's Basketball, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
Long before Zhen Craft told Georgia women's basketball head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson that she wanted to play for the Lady Bulldogs, the 6-foot-2 forward from Waldorf, Md., knew where she wanted to play in college.
"They were waiting for me to commit," Craft said of Georgia's coaches, "and I just wasn't saying anything."
Later, when Coach ABE and some members of her staff made a home visit, they got a surprise. Craft had decorated her house with Georgia colors.
"Everything was red, black and white; we had a cake, we had tassels, and when you walked in the front door, there was a big UGA balloon," Craft said, smiling at the surprise she'd pulled off on her coaches. "It was this whole, big thing, and it was really fun. I had all my closest family and friends there, and it was just a good time having all the people that are important to me seeing me reach this milestone."
That Craft decked out her house for the occasion isn't a big surprise. She likes to bake, she likes to paint, and she's had a lifelong love of building things with Legos. Her last name is a fitting one, because she's crafty.
"I was a really big Lego kid," she said. "Every Christmas, it would be like six different things of Legos, and I'm just sitting in the living room, quiet as I don't know what, just building Legos."
Her desire to build hasn't changed. These days, she's "really into Lego cars," she said, and recently built her favorite one yet: a Lego Mustang. "I think it took me a week, because it's really big."
A lot of freshmen arrive at college not really knowing what they want to study or do professionally — and many who do eventually find something else that they want to explore and pursue — but Craft's interest in building things shows no signs of waning. Her intended major is Business Management, with a minor in Architecture; she wants to be an architect when she's done playing basketball.
"I feel like building things has always been what's intrigued me most, figuring out how things work together and everything like that," she said. "Building things with Legos is definitely what inspired me. I really want to do houses and commercial buildings, and my really big goal is, when I'm older, to put up a big gym back home.
"A lot of kids don't have the opportunity to just go to a gym and just play basketball, so I really want to put a gym out there and just give back to the community."
Craft was a four-star prospect coming out of Bishop McNamara High School, which she helped lead to a state championship last season. Bishop McNamara was also named Sports Illustrated's High School On SI national champions for the 2024-25 season. Craft was one of five seniors to sign with a Division I school.
"I think my senior year is my best year of basketball so far," Craft said.
In Georgia's most recent game, a 65-43 loss at No. 2 South Carolina, Craft made her first career start and finished with 11 points and eight rebounds. Heading into Sunday's matchup at Stegeman Coliseum against Ole Miss, she's averaging 7.1 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. Defensively, she's been a force in the paint with 16 blocked shots, second only to 6-6 center Aicha Ndour's 18.
Despite all of the big games she's already played in during her basketball career, Craft said she definitely took the court with a lot of nerves against the Gamecocks.
"I was as nervous as I don't know what, and I came out and missed a layup right away. I was like, let me calm myself down. And when I finally did, I was like, I can play with these girls," she said. "Even though we didn't get the win, we learned so much from that game."
Craft is one of those people who has never met a stranger. She's outgoing, engaging, and eager to meet new people and experience new things — all of which have led to a very enjoyable first few months at college.
"It's been really fun," she said. "Basketball-wise, it has definitely been a learning experience. This is a great team, and I'm glad this is my team for my freshman year; they've really helped ease the transition."
When it came time to choose a college, Craft, who has lived in Maryland her whole life, who said her home state "is definitely home for me," well, she wanted to try someplace new.
"I was like, I've been here for 18 years, I want to go somewhere else," she said. "I had schools in Virginia that I was looking at, but even though that was four hours away, I was like, this is still too close. I knew I didn't want to go to the West Coast because that was too far for me, and a lot of the schools that recruited me happened to be in the South.
"When I came down here for my unofficial visit, I came in June when nobody's here. It was like a ghost town with all of the students gone, but I really liked it. When I took my official visit, that was also in June, and there was still no one here. I still really liked it, and I'm thinking, I'm going to love it even more when people are here. ...
"Even though I wanted to go far away, I still wanted it to feel like home — and Georgia felt like home."
Staff Writer
Long before Zhen Craft told Georgia women's basketball head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson that she wanted to play for the Lady Bulldogs, the 6-foot-2 forward from Waldorf, Md., knew where she wanted to play in college.
"They were waiting for me to commit," Craft said of Georgia's coaches, "and I just wasn't saying anything."
Later, when Coach ABE and some members of her staff made a home visit, they got a surprise. Craft had decorated her house with Georgia colors.
"Everything was red, black and white; we had a cake, we had tassels, and when you walked in the front door, there was a big UGA balloon," Craft said, smiling at the surprise she'd pulled off on her coaches. "It was this whole, big thing, and it was really fun. I had all my closest family and friends there, and it was just a good time having all the people that are important to me seeing me reach this milestone."
That Craft decked out her house for the occasion isn't a big surprise. She likes to bake, she likes to paint, and she's had a lifelong love of building things with Legos. Her last name is a fitting one, because she's crafty.
"I was a really big Lego kid," she said. "Every Christmas, it would be like six different things of Legos, and I'm just sitting in the living room, quiet as I don't know what, just building Legos."
Her desire to build hasn't changed. These days, she's "really into Lego cars," she said, and recently built her favorite one yet: a Lego Mustang. "I think it took me a week, because it's really big."
A lot of freshmen arrive at college not really knowing what they want to study or do professionally — and many who do eventually find something else that they want to explore and pursue — but Craft's interest in building things shows no signs of waning. Her intended major is Business Management, with a minor in Architecture; she wants to be an architect when she's done playing basketball.
"I feel like building things has always been what's intrigued me most, figuring out how things work together and everything like that," she said. "Building things with Legos is definitely what inspired me. I really want to do houses and commercial buildings, and my really big goal is, when I'm older, to put up a big gym back home.
"A lot of kids don't have the opportunity to just go to a gym and just play basketball, so I really want to put a gym out there and just give back to the community."
Craft was a four-star prospect coming out of Bishop McNamara High School, which she helped lead to a state championship last season. Bishop McNamara was also named Sports Illustrated's High School On SI national champions for the 2024-25 season. Craft was one of five seniors to sign with a Division I school.
"I think my senior year is my best year of basketball so far," Craft said.
In Georgia's most recent game, a 65-43 loss at No. 2 South Carolina, Craft made her first career start and finished with 11 points and eight rebounds. Heading into Sunday's matchup at Stegeman Coliseum against Ole Miss, she's averaging 7.1 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. Defensively, she's been a force in the paint with 16 blocked shots, second only to 6-6 center Aicha Ndour's 18.
Despite all of the big games she's already played in during her basketball career, Craft said she definitely took the court with a lot of nerves against the Gamecocks.
"I was as nervous as I don't know what, and I came out and missed a layup right away. I was like, let me calm myself down. And when I finally did, I was like, I can play with these girls," she said. "Even though we didn't get the win, we learned so much from that game."
Craft is one of those people who has never met a stranger. She's outgoing, engaging, and eager to meet new people and experience new things — all of which have led to a very enjoyable first few months at college.
"It's been really fun," she said. "Basketball-wise, it has definitely been a learning experience. This is a great team, and I'm glad this is my team for my freshman year; they've really helped ease the transition."
When it came time to choose a college, Craft, who has lived in Maryland her whole life, who said her home state "is definitely home for me," well, she wanted to try someplace new.
"I was like, I've been here for 18 years, I want to go somewhere else," she said. "I had schools in Virginia that I was looking at, but even though that was four hours away, I was like, this is still too close. I knew I didn't want to go to the West Coast because that was too far for me, and a lot of the schools that recruited me happened to be in the South.
"When I came down here for my unofficial visit, I came in June when nobody's here. It was like a ghost town with all of the students gone, but I really liked it. When I took my official visit, that was also in June, and there was still no one here. I still really liked it, and I'm thinking, I'm going to love it even more when people are here. ...
"Even though I wanted to go far away, I still wanted it to feel like home — and Georgia felt like home."
Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files.
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