Lady Bulldogs ‘walking bucket’ transfer ready to make debut following denied appeal
Over the season’s first nine games, seven Georgia players sat on the bench awaiting the opportunity to provide a spark. Potentially the Lady Bulldogs’ biggest jolt of energy, however, took the last seat in warm-up clothes and an inability to contribute.
On Sunday against Furman, that changes for mid-year transfer Shaniya Jones who reclaims eligibility for Georgia. She had to sit out a full calendar year after entering the program in Dec. 2018 from Virginia Tech. Georgia applied for Jones’ waiver transfer over the summer, but got denied.
She joined the Lady Bulldogs while dealing with a stress fracture in her foot which required surgery and the addition of metal hardware. So, the former four-star recruit and McDonald’s All-American sat and recovered. She didn’t return to the practice court until June and played with Georgia on its overseas tour to Italy.
Once receiving the denied transfer waiver, Jones still had to sit. An anticipation likely built within her and fellow Lady Bulldog teammates, but no solution remained until the fall academic semester’s conclusion. Georgia had another option at the wing position to provide a punch, but head coach Joni Taylor had no choice but to remain patient.
Now that Sunday’s tip-off nears, there’s a different type of anticipation residing within Georgia’s locker room. Her coaches and teammates want to see Jones in action.
“Shaniya is someone we need on the floor. She can absolutely score,” Taylor said. “We call her a ‘walking bucket.’”
Jones displays it on the practice court and caught the attention of college coaches by making it her focal point during high school. She quickly became the alpha at Wesleyan Christian Academy (High Point N.C.). Taylor recalls the game plan being pretty direct: Give Jones the ball and allow her to take over.
It worked out well for her high-school program as it finished 27-5 with a state title in her senior season. At Georgia, however, there’s been a learning curve. Taylor has noticed a few deficiencies that need improvement, some of which connect back to the injury and ineligibility.
“I need her to carry out a game plan on how we want to guard things,” Taylor said. “She never had to operate that the entire game. That has been a big adjustment for her. She has gotten a lot better, but she’s still not where she needs to be.”
Jones and Georgia ended up at this point by a stroke of fortune. Jones opted to transfer out of Virginia Tech after averaging 10.2 minutes per game and scoring 13 points in five contests. But Georgia didn’t search for her availability.
It’s not part of the Lady Bulldogs’ philosophy to venture into the transfer portal waters. Taylor knows it’s become a real part of college athletics, but she doesn’t recruit out of it. Georgia doesn’t see the benefit in waiting by the portal to see which names appear, so Jones had to reach out to Georgia. The same thing happened for UConn transfer Mikayla Coombs, who is out for the entire 2019-20 season after a denied appeal.
“We recruited (Shaniya) in high school, so we were comfortable with her and it was a really easy process when it happened,” Taylor said.
Once the tip occurs at Stegeman Coliseum’s midcourt logo, Jones will trade in the warm-up clothes for the white uniform with a red No. 21. The grueling journey of waiting ends, and a college career takes another step.
And for Georgia, it’ll have a lethal shooter it can turn to.
“Shaniya is someone who can score at all three levels,” Taylor said. “She’s talented offensively.”