We are still a couple of months away from the tip-off of the college basketball season, which means that we have plenty of time to prepare for the action ahead. We will do so via a series of season previews featuring the best players/coaches in the country. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel continues our coverage with Ohio State SR G Jacy Sheldon, who talked about her game-winning shot in last year’s NCAA tourney and her expectations for this season.
You are a lifelong Buckeyes fan who wanted to remain close to your family: how easy a decision was it to choose Ohio State for college? I grew up in Ohio so going to Ohio State was always a dream of mine. As I got older, I was fortunate enough to visit different schools. For me, it came down to the family-like culture at Ohio State, but I wanted to be a part of a winning culture as well. I also wanted to stay close to my family and my sister: it has been so special to see them at so many of my games.
In 2021 you made the all-conference academic team: how do you balance your work on the court with your work in the classroom? The biggest tool for managing my time has been experience. Now that I am a 5th-year I have had time to learn. It still is not easy, however, so getting in a routine really helped me. I like to plan out when I am going to be in the gym and the different times throughout the day to help manage my time. That way when I am not in the gym I can get some schoolwork done.
In January of 2022 you scored a career-high 33 PTS in a 6-PT win over Michigan State: was it just 1 of those scenarios where every shot you put up seemed to go in because you were “in the zone”? That game was a fun one. Like you said, when you see that many shots go in you do kind of feel like you are in a zone and the hoop looks bigger. I just tried to continue getting my teammates involved while also taking those scoring opportunities when they came.
In 2022 you were named Honorable Mention All-American: what did it mean to you to receive such an outstanding honor? I was honored. Anytime you get those awards it is usually related to the team’s success. I guess I did not realize the significance until somebody mentioned that Kelsey Mitchell was the last player at OSU to receive All-American honors.
You were also #3 in the conference that year with 86.4 FT%: what is the secret to making FTs? I practice free throws a lot. I include them multiple times throughout my shooting workout: this way I am shooting free throws while I am tired. We also work on them a lot in practice. Free throws are a good time for me to relax and catch my breath.
You were named to the 2022 coaches’ All-Defensive Team and last November you tied a school-record with 11 STL in a win over Boston College: what is the key to playing great defense? I like defense and the press that we run. A lot of those steals come from deflections that my teammates make. Our press contributes to a lot of the steals we get: we like to speed teams up and make them uncomfortable. It also gives us a chance to anticipate plays, which our team likes to do. The key for us is playing as hard as we possibly can and when we do that then we get more steals.
Take me through the 2023 NCAA tourney:
You made a jumper in the lane with less than 2 seconds left in a 2-PT win over North Carolina (www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvNBh0jTkpI): did you think the shot was going in, and where does that rank among the highlights of your career? That shot against North Carolina was a great highlight in my career. The original play we wanted to run broke down so Eboni Walker made a great play and I just tried to get a shot up. Once I elevated and created some space for myself I could tell that it looked pretty good. More than anything though our team fought for that win: it was a great effort by everyone. It is hard to win in March so our goal was to find any way possible to come out on top in that game.
You beat UConn to help your team reach the Elite 8 for the 1st time in 30 years before losing to Virginia Tech: what did you learn from your postseason run that you think will help you this year? Our tournament run was fun last year: we have a lot to look back on and be proud about but did not make it as far as we wanted. In a way I think it is going to motivate us even more. We know what it feels like to make it far in the tournament and have things not go our way and we do not want to relive that feeling. This group is really motivated this year and I think we have a lot to prove.
You missed 23 games last year due to a right leg injury: how is your health doing at the moment? I took some time off after the tournament and I am now feeling much better!
Your father Duane played college basketball, your mother Laura did track and field in college, and your brother Ajay plays basketball for Ohio: who is the best athlete in the family? Oh geez: you are going to get me in trouble! If you asked every member of my family they would say themselves, especially my brother, so I will have to go with me. Emmy has some pretty good hand-eye coordination though so do not forget about her.
What are your goals for this season, and what are your expectations for this season? We have a lot of goals for this season. We are first going to take it game-by-game and not look ahead. One of our annual goals is to win the Big Ten regular season as well as the conference tournament. We also want to make it back to the NCAA Tournament. This year we want to be headed to Cleveland during the first weekend of April. Our expectations are to come to practice each day and compete: we want to get better every day and push each other to be the best.