Teaser: A Waco, Texas, native, Duncan is one of eight returning players who will take on leadership roles to improve upon the skills of the new seven incoming players and is considered one of the four main players of the team.

Shamaryah Duncan feels most at home under the Charles Koch Arena lights, playing to the rhythmic cheering of Shocker fans. As a die-hard basketball fan since childhood, Duncan isn’t afraid to get out on the court: she appeared in 23 games last season as a freshman and made four starts.

The women’s team team bragged a preseason ranking of 10th, further fueling Duncan’s desire to make her mark on the court as a guard. 

A Waco, Texas, native, Duncan is one of eight returning players who will take on leadership roles to improve upon the skills of the new seven incoming players and is considered one of the four main players of the team.

“We’ll look for leadership from those guys,” head coach Keitha Adams said. “I think one of the things that we’re really trying to encourage (with leadership) is for our players to really play well together…..we’ve been working on our chemistry, on and off the court.”

As a freshman, Duncan committed to pursuing a nursing career, but as her goals and priorities shifted, so did her desire for nursing. It was after her first season on the women’s basketball team that Duncan realized her nursing major would put her on the bench and distract her from her first love: basketball. A quick transition to exercise science, and then to sports management, helped Duncan maintain the perfect balance between ambition and career.

“I know that I always want to be around basketball, whether I’m on the court or off the court,” Duncan said. “I know that being in that major will help me get to where I want to be.”

Duncan said the coursework is still difficult, but she ensures that she stays on top of assignments by taking advantage of her free time, for example, when the team is traveling for away-games, or attending mandatory team study sessions that help student athletes succeed in the classroom. These group sessions can help alleviate grade-related stress that can make players frazzled on the court.

For the upcoming season, Duncan aims to learn the strengths and weaknesses of herself and her teammates to create strategies that will propel the team towards the top of the American Athletic Conference standings. 

“I want to prove everybody wrong, that we’re really the best in the conference,” Duncan said.