STARKVILLE — Starkville High School’s opponents might not believe it, but Nakeria Scales was a very shy person when she started playing basketball.
“I was shy,” Scales said Friday after announcing she will continue her career at East Mississippi Community College. “I’m still shy, and I need to get out of my shell a little bit, but I promise you that when I get on the court it’s over with.”
Jackets coach Kristie Williams saw that up close.
“It’s so funny because she started out in that shell, and she finally kept breaking that shell to where here, in her senior year, we look up and she was having double-doubles continuously throughout our season,” said Williams, who gave Scales much of the credit for Starkville’s appearance in the second round of the MHSAA Class 6A playoffs.
There were a lot of double-doubles for Scales, who nearly averaged one at 10 points and 8.5 rebounds per game this past season.
“Nakeria’s special, and to see her continue on to the next level is a proud moment for her, and it means that her hard work has really paid off,” Williams said.
“I did have to work hard, and it’s amazing,” Scales said. “I’m at a loss for words, and I’m glad I get to continue my career with EMCC.”
Scales said she also considered Itawamba Community College, but she chose EMCC because it was “all around the best school.”
“They do have the program that I want to go into, which is social work,” she said.
East Mississippi is coming off of a 12-13 season, 8-6 in the MACCC, which ended in the first round of the NJCAA Region 23 tournament with a 44-39 loss to Jones. Williams is certain Scales will be a valuable asset to the Lions.
“East Mississippi and coach (Sharon) Thompson are getting a great, great addition to their program, and I know she’s going to continue to take her game to the next level,” Williams said.
EMCC announced on Friday that Thompson, also the athletic director and dean of students at the school, has retired after 17 years of coaching women’s basketball to concentrate on her administrative duties. In her AD role, Thompson announced her successor will be Isaiah Butler, a former Mississippi State player who spent the past four years as associate head coach at Coahoma Community College.
Williams, who recorded her 300th victory this past season, said getting to this point says a lot about Scales, who played the 4 for the Jackets.
“To balance school work and continuing to develop your game to where college coaches are interested in having you on their campus shows a lot about how Nakeria put in the time and effort,” she said.
Scales is equally certain what attributes will be paramount as she moves on to the college game.
“My determination and my hard work,” she said. “I know that I want to win, so Ill do whatever I need to do out there on the court to win.”
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