Ashley Nance knows all about Jordan Danberry’s exploits on the basketball court.
Nance, the girls basketball coach at Conway (Ark.) High School, had a front-row seat to watch Danberry win back-to-back Gatorade Player of the Year honors in the state of Arkansas. She also saw Danberry play a pivotal role in leading Conway High to two state championship game appearances.
“She is a five-star athlete,” Nance said earlier this week. “Players like her don’t come along very often.”
But Nance said Danberry is more than just a great basketball player. She said Danberry is special because she is a really smart student in the classroom and she is “an all-around young lady.”
At 2 p.m. today, No. 6 MSU (8-0) will get its first chance to see what Danberry can do in a game when she makes her debut against Little Rock (3-5) at Humphrey Coliseum.
Danberry, a 5-foot-8 redshirt sophomore, transferred from Arkansas to MSU in January 2017. She opted to join the active roster after talking to MSU coach Vic Schaefer following a season-ending injury to sophomore guard Jacaira “Iggy” Allen.
Danberry, who sat out last season due to NCAA transfer rules, would have had two years of eligibility remaining if she sat out this season. The decision to activate her means she will have the rest of this season and next season at MSU.
Danberry averaged 4.7 points and 3.8 rebounds in six games in her sophomore season at Arkansas. As a freshman, she earned 13 starts in 30 games and averaged 6.7 points, 2.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 0.9 steals in 19.2 minutes.
Nance said Danberry “took pride in all of it,” but she said Danberry was “unhappy” at Arkansas. She said Jordan is the type of player who “wants to know why stiff is being done” and that she had it set in her mind she wanted to transfer.
Nance, who was recruited by Schaefer and MSU associate head coach Johnnie Harris when they were coaches at Arkansas, knew MSU would be a great fit.
“Just talking to Jordan throughout the process, she is a lot happier,” Nance said. “I know she is loving being with coach Schaefer.”
Nance said Danberry worked out with the Conway High team during the summer. She said the training allowed her to see the growth in her basketball skills and how much she has matured as a young woman. Nance also said she can tell from talking with Danberry how much she has grown as a person.
Nance said Danberry’s basketball skills will continue to blossom at MSU.
“J always has been that kid that you look out there on the court and you see a different specimen of an athlete,” Nance said. “She is something special. When I saw Jordan, I saw her physique, her muscle tone, her speed, her ability to finish around the rim even her shooting has gotten a lot better. You could tell she in the weight room a lot and had been working on her shot.
Essie Cleveland, Jordan’s grandfather, echoes a lot of what Nance says about Jordan feeling at home at MSU. He said he didn’t try to persuade Jordan when she was deciding where to transfer. He said he was impressed with MSU when he accompanied Jordan on her visit and that he felt things would work out well.
Cleveland, whose daughter, Angela Clay, is Jordan’s mother, said he attended MSU’s games against Virginia and Oklahoma State. He plans to be in Starkville today.
“I could tell she enjoyed her visit,” Cleveland said. “She didn’t make it know (where she wanted to transfer) immediately after the visit. She felt all of the players and coaches were up front and genuine about what their expectations were and what they had to offer.”
Cleveland said Jordan made her decision official within a week of visiting Starkville. Since then, he knows she has been working hard to get ready to take the court for a game. Like Schaefer, he is impressed with Jordan’s work in the classroom because doing well in school is something he always stressed to her.
“It is maturity on her part,” Cleveland said. “It is nothing magical I did. I continued to emphasize the importance of her academics and to be one of the support pieces.”
After following Jordan’s athletic career from Upward Basketball to Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) ball with the Arkansas Mavericks to high school, Cleveland said he, too, is ready to see Jordan make the most of her second opportunity to play at a Southeastern Conference school.
“I have a lot of confidence in Jordan,” Cleveland said. “She is a student of the game, and she knows how to play, and she has the athletic ability and the talent.
“She is a highly skilled athlete, she is a winner, and she has that desire to win, and I think she really appreciates basketball and the opportunity to represent the uniform she is wearing, and to be proud of that. She has always had that. She has always been a team player.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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