UA commitment less stressed
University of Arkansas women’s ESPN 5-star commitment Taliah Scott was one of 25 named to the prestigious Naismith Trophy Underclassmen Watch List on Nov. 29.
Scott, 5-9, of Orange Park (Fla.) Saint John’s Country Day School chose the Razorbacks over more than 30 scholarship offers from Texas, Florida, Florida State, Louisville, Michigan, Ohio State, Tennessee, Alabama, Notre Dame, Virginia and others on Sept 14.
“When I saw that I was like really excited all the hard work is playing off and people are starting to recognize,” said Scott of being named to the list. “So when I was named to that I was ecstatic.”
ESPN also rates her the No. 9 overall prospect in the nation for the 2023 class. Scott, who made an unofficial visit to Arkansas during the Texas football game weekend, was surprised by being named to the list despite being a star recruit.
“Generally I haven’t gotten the recognition like I should be getting, so I was like very, very shocked,” Scott said. “I was so happy that people have acknowledged me being one of the best in the country.”
She’s averaging 34.3 points, 7 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 6.1 steals for the Spartans while playing almost 18 minutes a game.
Scott averaged 23.4 points, 5 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 2.6 steals a game as a sophomore and led nearby Oakleaf to the Class 7A state semifinals. She scored 20 plus points 15 times on the season and had 1,167 points in her first two seasons of high school basketball.
Razorbacks Coach Mike Neighbors was equally as thrilled about Scott making the list.
“He text me a screenshot and he said, ‘Let’s go,’ ” she said. “I know he’s really excited too and he’s just supporting me and waiting for me to go ahead and win it.”
When Neighbors and assistant Pauline Love traveled to Florida in November to watch Scott play, it made a big statement to her.
“It really did,” Scott said. “They stayed for the whole game. It gave me that reassurance they really want me. They’re still showing up even after I committed. It really made me feel like I made a really really good decision.”
Scott was first runner-up for the 2020-21 Class 7A Florida Dairy Farmers Player of the Year. She was one of 34 players invited to the USA Basketball U16 women’s team trial held in June.
Things are less stressful for Scott since her commitment to Arkansas.
“Some schools have backed off some but they’re still sending me a lot of mail though,” Scott said. “As far as being on the phone and talking to coaches, now I’m just on the phone with Arkansas.
“Before I committed, I was on the phone a lot talking to so many different people, so many different coaches and so once I committed I was like now I can just focus on working on my craft focus on being ready when I get to school and focusing on my last two years of high school and having fun my last travel ball season.”
DEAD PERIOD STARTING
Things are winding down for Arkansas Coach Sam Pittman and his staff before the early signing period that starts on Wednesday and ends on Friday.
Saturday was the last day college coaches could be on the road to see and visit prospects. Sunday is a quiet period which allows prospects to visit a college campus but coaches aren’t allowed to leave campus.
Receiver commitment Isaiah Sategna, 5-11, 170 pounds, of Fayetteville, and LSU freshman defensive lineman Landon Jackson, 6-7, 273, will be wrapping up official visits to Fayetteville today.
Jackson entered the NCAA transfer portal last week.
The dead period starts Monday and will run until Jan. 13. No face-to-face contact is allowed between coaches and prospects during the time frame while communication via phone and social media is allowed.
College coaches will be able to get back on the road to recruit on Jan. 14 and schools can start hosting prospects for visits again.