It’s not like Texas Southern senior guard Daeja Holmes hasn’t dealt with the low expectations most around the SWAC have for the Lady Tigers.
That’s the way it’s been for a while now.
But the Tigers’ predicted ninth-place finish in the SWAC coming into the 2024-2025 season has motivated them.
“It makes us more hungry. I feel like we don’t have any respect in the conference,” said Holmes. “So we just have to come out here and do what we do.
“Honestly, if we play together and stay together, nobody can be against us. It’s just got to stay in between.”
During her first couple of seasons, Skeete says it was challenging not just coaching against the opponents on the floor, but also against the city of Houston and its trappings that often had the attention of her players. But she says this group is more focused and that could be a big difference.
“Rent is due” is a phrase that has become familiar around the program.
“The people that are here really bought into that and it’s just changed for them,” said Skeete, whose team is coming off a ninth-place finish last season but ended the campaign with big wins over Alcorn State and Prairie View. “We want to keep pushing through that and teach them.
“We are going to have bumps and bruises along the way because this is all going to still be new to them. But I think overall through the outcome we are going to be a much-improved team.”
The Tigers return Jaida Belton and Holmes as their top two players. But Skeete and her staff hit the transfer portal hard and came out with some players who should complement Belton and Holmes well.
Holmes, a 5-foot-9 guard, is an explosive player who is the Tigers’ top returning scorer (9.7 points) and rebounder (4.7). Belton, a 6-foot-4 junior post player, has emerged as a force in the paint and finished fourth in the SWAC last season in blocked shots with 48.
Skeete is surrounding them this season with players who are long and have diverse skill sets. New additions like 6-foot-3 Deivejon Harris, Ohio University transfer Aylasia Fantroy, Courtlyn Loudermill and Mikayla Malik, Treasure Thompson, Tianna Mathis, and Nya Harmon are expected to give the Lady Tigers a boost this season.
“This season feels great because I’m getting good energy from the new girls coming in,” said Belton, who was named to the Preseason All-SWAC second team coming into the season. “They want to win and I feel like that’s what we were missing from the past seasons I’ve been here.
“So it’s the energy and every day we want to come in and compete. We are going to compete in practice and we are going to compete in the games.”
Junior center Jaida Belton is a force inside for the Lady Tigers after finishing last season with 48 blocks. Credit: TSU athletics.
What’s missing from the Tigers roster are freshmen, but Skeete says the focus was getting more mature to make a run this season.
“We’re on a race to reach certain goals,” she said. “When the (referees) throw the ball up, we want to be off. We don’t want to look at who we are playing, where we are, or what gym we are playing in.
“If I can keep this team in that mentality throughout the course of this season we are going to be very, very successful.”
TSU WOMEN’S BASKETBALL AT A GLANCE
Coach: Vernette Skeete (3rd season)
Last season: 7-22 overall, 6-12 SWAC (9th place)
Predicted 2024-25 finish: 9th
Top returning players: Daeja Holmes, G, 5-9, Sr. and Jaida Belton. C, 6-4, Jr.
Top newcomers: Courtlyn Lourdermill, G, 5-8, Sr., North Texas; Mikayla Malik, G, 6-1, Sr., Tuskegee; Treasure Thompson, F, 6-2, Sr., Eastern Michigan; Aylasia Fantroy, G, 5-11, Soph., Ohio University; Tianna Mathis, G, 5-8, Jr., Blinn College; Deivejon Harris, F, 6-3, Jr., SUNY Sullivan.
