Sophomores Moving On
The Greyhounds held a signing ceremony as four sophomore student-athletes are moving on to four-year colleges after completing their time at ASU Mid-South.
The Greyhounds held a signing ceremony as four sophomore student-athletes are moving on to four-year colleges after completing their time at ASU Mid-South.
Aaliyah Lee and Meleanna Williams completed their eligibility with the Lady Greyhound basketball program after leading the program to new heights including a trip to the 2021 NJCAA National Tournament where they finished in Seventh Place. The was nationally-ranked for the first time in program history and finished the season with an all-time best 25-2 record after securing the program's third region championship and first district championship. This past season, the Lady Greyhounds finished with a 17-10 overall record and went 8-2 in region play before ending their season in the Region 2 Tournament semifinals.
Lee signed with Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi, after taking advantage of the extra year granted by the NJCAA to wear the Lady Greyhound uniform for three years. The 6'1" forward from Atoka, Tennessee, earned First Team All-Region honors in 2019-20 and 2020-21 before earning Second Team All-Region honors in 2021-22. She was also named the program's first-ever All-American, being named to the Second Team in 2020-21. As a freshman in 2019-20, Lee led the Lady Greyhounds in scoring (13.7) and rebounding (8.9) and averaged 12.5 points and 8.2 rebounds her second season. This last year Lee averaged 12.1 points and 7.0 rebounds per game and finished her career with 186 blocked shots in 82 games, the most in program history.
Meleanna Williams signed with Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Arkansas. Transferring from Wiley College in Marshall, Texas, where she redshirted her first year out of Killeen, Texas, Williams earned Second Team All-Region honors in 2020-21 while leading the Lady Greyhounds in scoring and steals, averaging 13.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.4 steals per game. In 2021-22, the 5'6" guard averaged 13.0 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 1.9 steals per game.
For the men, J.T. Smith and Sam Smith completed their junior college careers setting records.
Like Lee, J.T. Smith took advantage of the extra year granted by the NJCAA to play three years for the Greyhounds and signed with Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas, after starting all 79 games in which he appeared. In his first year for the Greyhounds, he helped the team to a 25-8 overall record on the way to winning their fourth consecutive region championship. In his second season, the Greyhounds finished with a 16-5 record in a COVID-shortened season to finish as Region 2 Runners-Up while he averaged 7.5 points and 3.9 rebounds while leading the team in both assists (3.4) and steals (1.4). In 2021-22, the team finished with a 14-12 record in an injury-riddled season and finished as Region 2 Runners-Up again with the 6'3" point guard from Kensett, Arkansas, increasing his production to 10.7 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 1.3 steals per game. He again led the team in assists and steals while also earning Second Team All-Region honors.
Sam Smith signed with Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi, and finishes his career with his name in the record books as he earned First Team All-Region honors both seasons and was named to the NJCAA All-American Second Team in 2020-21 after averaging 19.3 points and 9.1 rebounds per game while shooting 57.5% from the field, 37.3% from the three-point line and 78.2% from the free throw line. Then in 2021-22, despite breaking his foot in late November, the 6'7" forward from Arkadelphia, Arkansas, came back to average 17.5 points and 11.6 rebounds to capture First Team All-Region honors for the second year in a row.