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Arielle Canchola

Preseason With Women's Basketball

by Arielle Canchola


Head coach, Zaporia Smith, of Wilbur Wright College women’s basketball team gave an insight into a new season for our Lady Rams! This team has been meeting for practice since early June, but the work doesn’t start there. Recruitment occurs all year round while ensuring that the fundamentals are never unpracticed for too long.


Smith has been coaching the Lady Rams since 2018. She began assisting coach Tom Warren and was promoted in 2021 following Warren’s retirement. Throughout the three years Smith was assisting coaches at Wright, it has molded her lead in the position she has now.  


The team kicked into action on Oct.13 for the Rock Valley Jamboree. The Jamboree is a one-day, three game scrimmage for neighboring Midwest colleges to go up against each other, hosted this year by Rock Valley College in Rockford, Illinois. 


Coach Zaporia Smith tosses the ball to kick off a practice drill on October 21 with players from left to right: Jasemin Wilson, Jennifer Martinez,  Kala Stanton, and Daria Kelley. (Photo by Arielle Canchola)



The Lady Rams lacked a win in this event, but Smith states “We are still trying to figure out what each other’s strengths and weakness are collectively. They’re able to identify what there is, but together, we’re trying to bring it all together.”


Smith states it has been a huge adjustment balancing a consistent cycle of graduating players. This year, the team holds a majority of freshmen and only two sophomores, which requires “a lot of reteaching and retraining” from the settings of high school. 


It’s a whole different ball game. The team is now preparing for the Northern Iowa Classic, which is similar to the Jamboree, approaching on Nov. 1 and 2. While the Jamboree and the Classic do not count towards Conference. 


Smith states that “It will be counted as what did we do when we go out there.” The season will pick up quickly afterwards with the first game against Prairie State College on Nov. 5 and then the first home game against Daley College on Nov. 7.


There will still be a lot of work happening until then. There will be a lot of conditioning, meal prepping, hitting the weights, etc. According to Smith, the key factors to a successful season are communication, transparency, defense, will power, and relationships. 


Smith is looking forward to seeing the team displaying these skills, but particularly how they come together when the clock requires them to.


Forward, Jasemin Wilson, calls for the ball from guard. Kalin Stanton, while being guarded by center and Shamyriah Hines during a practice on October 21.

(Photo by Arielle Canchola)



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