Former USC player Destiny Littleton stuck in Israel after airstrikes on Iran

When former USC Trojans player Destiny Littleton first signed with Hapoel Jerusalem in Israel’s top division, she was beyond excited.

Naturally she knew the risks playing in a country where the regional situation was tenuous at best, but her research and desire to play in high-level competition won out.

“I had an amazing year this year,” she told Fox News Digital. “I’ve opened a lot of doors for myself so that’s definitely been a plus. I’ve gotten to play the game I love and experience another country. So there are positives, and with the situation that’s happen[ing], being able to look at all the positives will kind of keep you sane.”

Now, instead of hooping, Littleton is documenting the airstrikes between Israel, the US and Iran breaking out all around her.

“It’s my reality right now. It’s a war zone. Right now it’s pretty routine, you sit around, you wait for an alert on your phone, you wait for a siren, you go into a shelter in place, you wait for the all clear, and you just do it again, and do it again, and do it again,” she said. 

Follow The Post’s coverage of the United States’ airstrikes on Iran:

In posts on her social media account, Littleton is capturing video of missiles racing across the sky and exploding all around her as Iran retaliates following the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei over the weekend.

According to Littleton, the attacks started Saturday and have yet to stop.

“It’s very much an active war site,” she said in one video. “Just seeing that all last night, it just felt so close.”

In one clip that’s making its rounds throughout social media, Littleton recorded bright flashes above the city, flashes that were bright enough to light up the entire sky.

“There’s no siren going on right now, and yet there’s these things in the sky blowing up! I’m pretty sure they’re either missiles or drones! Either way, we’ve seen them blow up in the sky, multiple of them, very, very close to us actually!” she said in the video. 

Littleton has made it known in social media posts that due to the terrifying nature of the situation, she and other US citizens are attempting to return to the United Sates. However, the airspace is presently closed, which makes traveling nearly impossible.

“Trust me, all of us, we’re trying to leave at the earliest possible convenience, and with that, just staying calm though. We can’t panic, we can’t freak out, because it’s not going to help anything. Really just praying and hoping that this will end very soon.”

Littleton is far from alone while stuck in Israel, receiving support from multiple people, including her former college coach Dawn Staley. They won a national title together in 2022 at South Carolina, which was Littleton’s second of three colleges she played for throughout her career.

Littleton finished her prep career as the leading scorer in California state history, with 4,300 points. Her senior year at The Bishop’s School in San Diego culminated with her being named the 2017 California Gatorade Player of the Year, and she was also a consensus top-30 player in the nation.

She spent her first two years college at a Texas college before sitting out a season due to NCAA transfer rules. She joined South Carolina in 2020 playing two years for the Gamecocks, which resulted in the national title in 2022. She then came home to USC for her final season as a graduate transfer, starting in all 31 games, averaging 14.0 points, 3.7 assists and 3.3 rebounds per game.

Littleton is one of three American women’s basketball players playing professionally in Israel, along with current Seattle Storm guard Tiffany Mitchell and former Phoenix Mercury forward Mikiah Herbert.

Staley is taking the matter seriously as all three of the athletes played for her at South Carolina.

“We are working on a plan to get [them] home. Let us pray for our loved ones to return home safely asap!” Staley wrote on X. 

When asked about the support Staley has given her, Littleton didn’t hesitate to heap praise and gratitude on her former leader.

“She really cares about her babies. We’ll forever be her babies. And she’s trying to be there for us from 7,000 miles away,” Littleton said. “As the type of person she is, she is going to use her reach to make sure that we can get home as safe as possible. So it’s been a lot of checking in and making sure we’re okay.”

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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: nypost.com