Trajata Colbert motivates younger players in hopes of a winning season

Senior+forward+Trajata+Colbert+goes+up+for+a+basket+during+the+exhibition+game+against+Missouri+Southern+on+Nov.+1+at+Charles+Koch+Arena.+Colbert+scored+14+points.+

Madeline Bell / The Sunflower

Senior forward Trajata Colbert goes up for a basket during the exhibition game against Missouri Southern on Nov. 1 at Charles Koch Arena. Colbert scored 14 points.

Senior Trajata Colbert, a 6-foot-2 guard, is ready to lead an experienced team. 

“[She has] a lot of experience and has been a leadership force, and I’m really proud of how she’s developed both on and off the court,” head coach Keitha Adams said.

In the past few seasons, Colbert has stood at the top of the leaderboards in individual stats. This season, Colbert has scored 30 points over the course of three games. She also has 14 rebounds and one block.

Colbert, who calls her teammates her sisters, said that the team builds chemistry by being together constantly and treating each other as family.

“We break up into teams, and everybody wants to be on my team because I’m the oldest and the biggest,” Colbert said. “I make the rules, so I felt like that’s where I get my competitiveness from.”

Colbert said she hopes to lead the team to success with her individual performances as well as lifting up the rest of the team to her level.

“You practice how you play, when you play how you practice,” Colbert said. “We have to work harder to get better in order to perform well in games.”

Colbert is excited about the new, experienced recruits as well as incoming freshmen. She said she is hopeful for the extra help, but knows she can handle the posts on her own if she has to.
 The Shockers were picked 10th in the American Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches Poll. Colbert said that being picked 10th is ‘too low,’ and the team will need to work hard as a whole.

“I know the team that I have. I know the teammates I have. I know the coaches that I have. And we’re better,” Colbert said.