Head coach Shimmy Gray-Miller has a familiar face in an unfamiliar position on her basketball team. All-American and Atlantic 10 Volleyball Player of the Year Sammi McCloud has joined her squad as a walk-on.
McCloud’s path to Division I basketball stems from Gray-Miller’s need for bodies and spirit on a struggling Billikens squad. After McCloud’s volleyball season finished in early December, Gray-Miller worked to recruit the star to walk onto her squad. McCloud resisted at first, but slowly began to entertain the idea.
“We chased her down,” Gray-Miller said. “We went back and forth through some players, but she kept saying no. But then, a few days ago, Sammi texted [assistant volleyball coach Kyle Walton] and said, ‘I had 18 points on my intramural basketball team!’ So I asked him to text her back and invite her to practice with us.
“So he did, and she showed up for practice. We were just going to put her on the practice squad, but we were really trying her out. She thought we were just letting her get her basketball fix. She was great. I knew we needed her. I told her, ‘We only have four games left and you can help us win.’ And I’m happy she’s with us; she’s definitely worth [the chance].”
McCloud recalls thinking that the coach was playing a practical joke on her.
“I had always thought that she was joking, but then after she kept asking, I realized she wasn’t,” McCloud said. “It has always been a dream of mine to play D-I basketball. All my volleyball was out of the way and I have nothing coming up that would get in the way of being fully invested in the team, so I went for it.”
It’s a rarity in NCAA Division I athletics for scholarship players to walk-on to other sports, but neither McCloud nor Gray-Miller held any reservations about the experiment. And so far, things seem to be working out; McCloud has logged six minutes over two games for the Billikens since joining the squad two weeks ago. She is yet to take a shot but does have a steal.
What makes a coach reach across athletic boundaries? According to Gray-Miller, the drive and passion to win factored into her decision to recruit McCloud. “To have that winning attitude, the competitive fire, in our locker room, that’s crucial for us on our last stretch. She was a heck of a basketball player in high school, and I’ve watched her play volleyball for four years; she’s a competitor and a winner. If her spirit will rub off on our players, heck yes, it’s worth it.”
McCloud says she understands that her playing time will probably be limited, but she hopes to be involved on the court, provide enthusiasm, and help in “any way shape or form that I can, to be a spark on the team.”
So how does McCloud’s former head coach, Anne Kordes, feel about her former all-star’s new role at SLU? “I am so excited for her. She’s just a phenomenal athlete that can be thrown into anything and she’ll be good at it.”
McCloud hopes to play volleyball in Europe next summer, but for now can revel in her new found glory on the basketball court. While it may not be your average every-day combination, as Gray-Miller said, laughing, “How often can you say you’ve had an All-American walk-on?”
