“She’s a dawg.”
That’s what Iowa State junior guard Jada Williams said about what it’s like to play against Kansas’ S’Mya Nichols.
Nichols, a product of Shawnee Mission West in Overland Park, is heading into her third year donning the crimson and blue for Jayhawks head coach Brandon Schneider, and she’s only getting better with each game. She followed one all-conference season with another and now enters her junior campaign leading the Jayhawks.
Schneider and his staff started recruiting Nichols back during her middle-school days, and their relationship has only grown through her time as a Jayhawk, as Schneider has placed increasing trust in his local star.
But other coaches have had the chance to learn about Nichols over the last two seasons — often the hard way. Now it isn’t just Schneider praising her, as other Big 12 coaches also raved about Kansas’ junior star during media day, with reigning Big 12 champion Mark Campbell from TCU giving Nichols her flowers.
“She’s unbelievable, she’s positionless,” TCU head coach Mark Campbell said. “They do a great job using her and moving her around the court. For a youngster, her basketball feel, IQ — I mean, she’s getting everybody’s best game plan to try and slow her down. And, you know, people, I don’t know if people truly understand how difficult that is as an athlete, to take on everybody’s game plan and still be able to execute and deliver. And so she’s done that.
“And so I think she’s one of the best players in college basketball. I’m scared to see what she looks like this year, and (we’ve) got our work cut out to try and slow her down.”
Oklahoma State head coach Jacie Hoyt gave Nichols similar praise, but also mentioned her physicality as one of her best traits.
“Yeah, I mean she’s a stud,” Hoyt said. “She’s so tough to play against because she is tough. She’s strong, she’s physical for a guard, she can score about every which way. Just being a three-level scorer, she doesn’t have any weaknesses in my opinion. So every time we play her, we just talk about it’s got to be a team effort. It’s no one’s one-on-one assignment because she’s a handful.”
Players, too, discussed how much of an impact she has on games. Iowa State’s Jada Williams and junior forward Addy Brown both grew up in the region, Williams in Kansas City and Brown outside Wichita, meaning they know Nichols well.
“She’s a dawg, she’s going to go get it,” Williams said. “We’ve all known S’Mya for a long time so she’s one of our good friends. We get out there, we compete with her. She can play the one through five, really.”
“Yeah, it’s a fun (rivalry) just because we’re both from Kansas,” Brown added of Nichols. “We’re good friends, like Jada said, so when we go out there, we know what it’s gonna be. She’s going to have a good game, we’re going to have a good game and we have fun, but we’re all really competitive at the end of the day so we’re going to try and get the dub. But yeah, she’s a phenomenal player and it’s super fun to play against (her).”
Nichols knows that every game in the Big 12 will be a challenge for the Jayhawks.
“Our conference looks even more competitive,” Nichols said. “The transfers that’s transferred into the Big 12, they bring so (much) different diversity of style and play, so it’s more competitive, which makes it more entertaining, which makes it more fun. I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
