La’Shay Taft has always had the green light. In all her years of AAU basketball growing up, she was never discouraged from letting her jump shot fly. So she just kept shooting.

‘For AAU most of the team’s I played on, I just had the green light to always do what I want,’ said Taft, a freshman guard on the Syracuse women’s basketball team. ‘And I just started shooting because they just let me.’

That shooter’s mentality took over Taft’s game. Through five consecutive years as a member of the Baltimore Cougars AAU squad, she honed her talent as a perimeter threat. By the time Taft was ready to graduate from Baltimore City College High School last spring, she had become one of the best 3-point shooters in the country.

‘La’Shay Taft is one of the better shooters out there nationally,’ said Dan Olson, creator of Collegiate Girls Basketball Report. ‘She can fill it up, and I’ve seen that on a consistent basis.’

Now Taft looks to apply her perimeter potency to a Syracuse offense that ranked ninth in the conference last year in 3-point field-goal percentage. With the departure of the program’s all-time leading scorer in Nicole Michael, head coach Quentin Hillsman wants the long-range shot to become a focus of this year’s offense. Taft is one of six players on the roster that must make up for the loss of Michael’s 58 3-point baskets from a year ago, which accounted for 33 percent of the team’s total.

As that insatiable hunger to knock down each and every jump shot took hold, Taft sought help and instruction. Nearly seven days per week during the offseason, she could be seen at a recreation center in Baltimore trying to keep up with the guys.

Though she admits that most of the guys were better, that didn’t stop her from trying to reach their level.

‘I used to go to the Rec like every day and shoot around with the boys and get extra help,’ Taft said. ‘It’s a lot of motivation because most of the time, they are really good. And I’m trying to keep up with them.’

Playing with the guys has given Taft unbelievable range on her jump shot. Both Hillsman and teammate Carmen Tyson-Thomas said she can move ‘three or four’ steps beyond the men’s 3-point arc and knock down shots without a problem.

Tyson-Thomas admits that if there is anyone on the team right now that can’t be left open, it’s definitely Taft. She will drain those open looks and stretches the defense simply with her presence on the court.

‘She can shoot from deep,’ Tyson-Thomas said. ‘Very quick release. She has a habit to create her own shot, but off the drive-and-kick, she’s going to knock it down.’

In addition to Taft, Tyson-Thomas is one of those other shooters Hillsman is counting on to make open shots this season. She spent the summer in Syracuse working on mid-range and outside jumpers. Through hundreds of shots, she wanted to improve her 29.4 career 3-point percentage.

After all that, she has developed a favorite spot on the floor at the top of the key. And that won’t tread on Taft, either, who prefers to stay deep in the corner for catch-and-shoot opportunities.

‘I think Carmen Tyson-Thomas is an untapped product,’ Olson said. ‘I think her basketball ability hasn’t even reached its expectations yet.’

But quality shooters along the perimeter do more than just put three points on the board for Hillsman’s offense. They also create gaps and open up space inside the arc when opposing teams have to contest jump shooters.

In particular, this means more room for Big East All-Freshman center Kayla Alexander to operate. Defenders can’t collapse as much on her if Syracuse has capable shooters all along the outside.

Just the threat of the long-range shot will stretch any defense the Orange faces.

‘If they’re going to be sitting in Kayla’s lap a little bit, we need those players to stand in the deep corners and make some shots,’ Hillsman said.

Much of that burden falls on Taft, and that’s a big role for a freshman to play. At times she said it has been overwhelming.

But for any lapses in self-confidence, her teammates have been there to pick her back up. They’ve seen the talent, and they realize how valuable that long-range ability will be to the team.

So once again, Taft has the green light. And after years of practice and thousands of shots in the gym, she thinks she’s ready.

‘That’s good that they have confidence in me because sometimes I don’t have confidence in myself,’ Taft said. ‘It is a real huge role, but I’m going to get it done.’

Mjcohe02@syr.edu

 

Published on November 9, 2010 at 12:00 pm

Contact Michael: mjcohe02@syr.edu | @Michael_Cohen13