Wilson has grown more confident in her defense

Published 7:48 pm Tuesday, November 27, 2018

Junior Shelbi Wilson is a junior and has played basketball since she was in seventh grade.

She also ran track, played tennis and just recently stopped playing volleyball.

Wilson said she chose basketball because she felt like she is better at it than the other sports.

Email newsletter signup

“It has always been the main one I have been better at,” she said. “I have always liked playing and it is how I have made all my friends.”

Wilson said basketball is her outlet to temporarily step aside from her problems.

“I always wanted to play in college,” she said. “It helps me relieve stress and get through the day. Basketball lets me get away from the stress from school.”

Wilson said she has really improved on defense and believes it is her strongest quality now.

“A few years ago I used to really not like playing defense,” she said. “I am really starting to like it and I can tell I have gotten better. I have gotten a lot better at driving to the basket, too. I am starting to read the defense and understand when I drive whether I need to pass it to an open teammate or score.”

Wilson admits she would like to improve on her assertiveness on the court.

“I would like to be more aggressive,” she said. “I sometimes pass up shots or am hesitant in making decisions. I want to take those opportunities to put the ball in the basket or learn how to be a little more selfish in order to help my team win.”

Wilson said she wears the number 21 on the court because she likes the number two.

“I guess I have a thing with twos,” she said. “I was born on the 22nd and like two minutes before 2 o’clock so I like to have the number in the 20’s.”

Wilson said music hypes her to help her get focused and in the zone.

“I really like to listen to music,” she said. “I like hip-hop, but I listen to a lot of pop, too. Lil’ Baby is a rap artist that first comes to mind. I listen to a lot of others.”

Wilson said she wants to help her team focus on defense and wants to become a defensive leader.

“We can be the best defensive team,” she said. “Defense is something we work on and it is something we want to really be good at to win.”