Mississippi State isn’t done retooling its backcourt, adding Alabama-Birmingham point guard Denim DeShields in the transfer portal Monday and Georgia Southern wing Terren Ward on Tuesday.
DeShields and Ward join Kentucky guard Eniya Russell, Oklahoma State guard Chandler Prater and Northwest Florida State College guard Destiny McPhaul on head coach Sam Purcell’s 2024-25 roster, in a backcourt that already includes Jerkaila Jordan and Debreasha Powe.
DeShields announced her decision on social media and has two years of eligibility remaining. She became a starter immediately for the Blazers as a freshman and averaged 13.4 points and 5.3 assists per game this past year as a sophomore. DeShields is not much of a threat as an outside shooter but is solid at the free throw line and on the defensive end.
DeShields has no shortage of athletic talent in her family. Her father, Delino DeShields, played 13 seasons in Major League Baseball for five different teams, and her older brother, Delino DeShields Jr., also played in MLB for seven years, mostly with the Texas Rangers.
Her sister, Diamond DeShields, was a college basketball star at Tennessee and has spent five years in the WNBA with the Chicago Sky and Phoenix Mercury, recently returning to Chicago on a one-year deal. Her mother Tisha was a standout athlete as well, becoming an All-American track and field athlete in the heptathlon at Tennessee.
Ward is a graduate transfer from Georgia Southern with one year of eligibility remaining, coming over from Statesboro along with new MSU assistant coach Anita Howard. Her production increased each year for the Eagles, and last year she averaged 22 points and 9.1 rebounds per game, ranking 11th in all of Division I women’s college basketball in scoring.
She led the Sun Belt Conference with 16 double-doubles and is a two-time first team all-conference honoree. A career 35.7 percent 3-point shooter, Ward is also a threat on defense, with 1.9 steals per game over the last two years. The native of Jessup, Ga. holds the scoring and rebounding records at Wayne County High School.
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