More than four years ago, Kansas women’s basketball found itself mired in a string of losing seasons, and head coach Brandon Schneider offered a scholarship to a promising player from Overland Park who wasn’t even in high school yet.
Now, the Jayhawks have reached the NCAA Tournament and then won the WNIT in back-to-back seasons, and that young woman — who soon became one of the top players nationwide in the class of 2023 — has been in Lawrence since June 3, ready to help KU elevate beyond its recent success.
“It’s definitely a very surreal feeling,” incoming freshman S’Mya Nichols told the Journal-World after a recent workout. “I walk to my apartment, I have my own key and everything, I come to Allen whenever I want, get shots up. It’s a different feeling, it’s like ‘Finally, I’m here.'”
If Nichols is at all worried about the pressure of high expectations, she isn’t showing it: “I don’t think that S’Mya thinks about that,” Schneider told the Journal-World.
“I’m pretty level-headed when it comes to a lot of things, so I’m not really fazed by a lot,” Nichols said. “I just stick to myself and stick to what I know. There’s good and bad days and I know that, but I think I’ll be fine.”
S’Mya Nichols arrives at Kansas as the biggest-name recruit of the Brandon Schneider era.
The 6-foot guard from Shawnee Mission West will join a Kansas roster that remains incomplete after losing six players to the transfer portal — three below its 13-scholarship limit, even midway through June — but still features three returning super-seniors (Zakiyah Franklin, Holly Kersgieter and Taiyanna Jackson) and a senior (Wyvette Mayberry) in its starting lineup.
“Any time you can return the kind of production that we are,” Schneider said, “with four people who started and really heavily contributed to all facets of the game, you have to feel really fortunate.”
And then you throw Nichols into the mix come November.
“I definitely want to provide a lot of energy,” she said, “and I just want to add more aggression to the game to keep the flow going.”
She has a history of doing just that. Ranked No. 34 in her class by ESPN and considered a five-star prospect by some services, Nichols earned All-Class 6A first-team honors from the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association each of the last three years and scored more than 1,000 points in her Shawnee Mission West career despite two separate ACL tears. She currently projects as the lone in-state recruit on the Jayhawks’ roster and said that her desire to build up a program in her home state was part of why she passed up out-of-state powerhouses.
“To me, KU athletics was so underrated,” she said, “and now that they’re elevating, I feel like this is perfect to keep it going and keep the name out there and make it to the top.”
When Nichols first signed last November, Schneider posted a video to his Twitter account of a popular meme that shows England soccer fans reacting to a goal against Wales — edited so that the fans are screaming and cheering in response to his announcement of Nichols’ commitment. Safe to say he’s excited to wield what he calls “a really, really talented player with a very bright future who we feel like will contribute immediately.”
“I think what jumps out at me in some of these initial skill-development workouts is her focus and intent, and her coachability,” Schneider said. “She wants to be the best player that she can be, and I think has really gotten herself off to a good start even though our whole team isn’t back yet.”
Nichols referred approvingly to how the program has evolved. She saw the Jayhawks return to national prominence in the years’ since Schneider’s initial offer.
“In the snap of a finger, everyone’s mindset changed and everyone had a champion mindset,” she said. “Everyone was working hard and what they were saying, it was showing.”
Beyond that, for Schneider, as he previously told the Journal-World, having signed Nichols demonstrates to recruits that Kansas is ready to acquire more top talent. Schneider notes that he is currently recruiting for three separate classes, as college coaches can now contact 2025 prospects as of June 1.
“We’re engaging with a lot of very, very what we would consider highly recruited young women,” he said. “… A lot are in (the) Midwest, in what we would call the Big 12 corridor, but nationwide.”
Right now, though, one week into her time in Lawrence, all of what Nichols can help KU accomplish on the court is distant and hypothetical: “I’ve honestly just been doing schoolwork, workouts and then lifts,” she said. “Right now I’m focusing on the things that I’m putting in my body so I can perform well.”
That also means, right now, that anything remains within the realm of possibility.
“Her talent, it speaks for itself,” Schneider said. “I think (our returners) are looking forward to having a player added to the team that is so versatile and is going to have the opportunity to bring so much value to our team.”
S’Mya Nichols takes a three-point shot during an early workout after arriving at KU.