By Marissa Essenburg | Sports Writer
Long before she became one of the most electric scorers in college basketball, Taliah Scott was just a kid in Orange Park, Fla., chasing a ball around the driveway with her younger brother.
Basketball wasn’t even her first love early on. For a while, it was gymnastics. But once she picked up a ball, there was no looking back.
“We grew up playing basketball,” Scott said on the Sic ’Em Podcast with John Morris. “At first I was a gymnast, but when I was nine I started playing basketball and it’s been basketball ever since.”
What followed was a journey that would turn the redshirt sophomore guard into one of the most dynamic players in the country.
Basketball was always close to home for Scott.
With a father who played Division I ball, Scott grew up around the game. By the time she reached high school, it was clear that hoops weren’t just in her blood, but marked a path she was quickly making her own.
The McDonald’s All-American filled it up as a star at St. John’s Country Day School, finishing her high school career with nearly 3,000 points after reaching the 1,000-point mark before the end of her sophomore season and piling up almost every major accolade available to a high school player in Florida.
That scoring touch put her among the nation’s elite, as she became Florida’s girls basketball scoring champion by the end of her senior year and the 11th-leading scorer in the country, averaging 36.2 points, 9.2 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game.
As the points piled up, the honors followed. Gatorade Florida Girls Basketball Player of the Year, Florida Dairy Farmers Miss Basketball and multiple local player-of-the-year honors soon became part of Scott’s résumé.
The résumé quickly translated to the next level.
An Arkansas commit since before her senior season, Scott wasted little time making her presence felt in the SEC, starting 19 of 20 games for the Razorbacks and leading both the team and conference in scoring and minutes played, including a 29-point outburst in her collegiate debut.
Since then, Scott has never played a collegiate season without averaging at least 20 points per game.
For the 5-foot-9 shooter, that standard has always been the goal.
“There’re so many great players in college basketball, and I want my name to be one of the first ones that is mentioned,” Scott said on College GameDay.
Like Baylor, double figures became automatic for Scott at Arkansas, as she reached the mark in each of those 19 starts, including 13 with 20 or more points and three with at least 30.
Wherever she played, whatever hardwood she stepped on, buckets followed. But the journey hasn’t only been defined by numbers.
After transferring to Auburn for her sophomore season, a wrist injury forced her into surgery before the year began, limiting her to just three games and a redshirt. Even in that short stretch, she still averaged 20.3 points per game.
Then came stop No. 3. After months on the sideline, Scott entered the transfer portal again and made her way to the Big 12, where she found a home at Baylor and settled in as the centerpiece of head coach Nicki Collen’s offense.
“She’s become a leader on the court because your best player is usually the one people follow,” Collen said. “In her first full season of college basketball, and with everything that has come with it, I’m super proud of her, the way she’s succeeded on the court and her heart for her teammates.”
In her first season with the Bears, Scott has taken the Big 12 by storm, from a 24-point outing in Baylor’s season-opening win over then-No. 7 Duke to becoming the team’s leading scorer, one of the conference’s most dangerous offensive threats and the nation’s No. 5 free-throw shooter at 90.0%, reaching double figures in every game she has finished.
Her impact has stretched far beyond Waco, as her name continues to surface alongside the nation’s best.
Ahead of the NCAA Tournament, she sits No. 2 in the Big 12 in scoring and No. 17 nationally, continuing to stack accolades with seven Big 12 Starting Five honors in her first season in the conference.
“There’s no doubt she’s one of the premier scorers in the country,” Collen said on The Matt Mosley Show.
The numbers have only reinforced the label. Scott this season became the 22nd player since 2000 to join the 1,000 point club in 48 games or fewer, tying for the 19th-fewest games needed to reach the milestone.
From driveway battles in Orange Park to national leaderboards to finding a home in the green and gold, her journey has been defined by one constant: putting the ball in the basket.
No matter the jersey, that part has never changed. Buckets have always followed Taliah Scott.
