If there is a word to describe Crystal Schultz’s transition from wide-eyed freshman to sophomore at Prairie View, it would definitely be change.
The Fort Bend Austin product entered this basketball season with a new coach, increased demands on her game, and leadership expectations. While it can feel daunting at times, Schultz is embracing it all. That includes the new voices and demands of first-year head coach Tai Dillard and her staff.
“It’s a big change, and I think it’s a great change, as well,” Schultz said in a recent conversation with the Defender following practice. “I have a great coaching staff. It’s four different personalities, but it all works out actually very good, surprisingly. To have a head coach who is very calm, but at the same time we all respect her. Everything that she says because she comes from experience. She has played in the pros and collegiately. We respect all of our coaches because they have been where we want to get to.
“It’s a great change actually, just getting us to where we need to be.”
So far, the skilled scorer has picked up right where she left off last season when she finished the year as the SWAC Freshman of the Year. Schultz is still getting buckets even as the 2-11 overall, 0-2 (SWAC) Panthers go through a gauntlet of a non-conference schedule that has the University of Texas, Sam Houston State, Oklahoma State, Texas State, and Texas A&M on the horizon.
The 5-foot-8 shooting guard leads SWAC in scoring with 15.7 points a game, while backcourt mate CJ Wilson is second in the conference with 15.3 points per game.
“It can be very, very frustrating, but I think once you love the game, this is what comes with it,” Schultz said of the Panthers’ unforgiving non-conference schedule, where they are often overmatched and on the road. “You are going to have those frustrating moments, but when you have good teammates like I have; we’re sisters. So at the end of the day, we are going to have each other’s backs.
“It’s frustrating, but at the same time fun because we are getting better each game.”
Improving with each game has been the goal the coaching staff has set for not just Schultz, but the entire team, during this initial stretch of the season. Dillard, who was hired last spring after several years as an assistant coach at the University of Houston, scrambled to put together a schedule upon her arrival, but also sought a tougher non-conference slate to gauge the team’s competitiveness.
“After the first day we saw the preseason schedule, we knew it was going to be a rough battle,” Schultz said. “But at the end of the day, you have to go through times to get to where you want to do. It’s not going to be peaches and cream every day. Even in practices, we have rough practices and even those frustrating talks with our coaches. But at the end of the day, our coaches love us, and they want to see us succeed.
“Her ability to score is what stood out. Her ability to score and get a bucket in any situation no matter what and that just comes from confidence. You can see that confidence and of course coming in as a new staff, we wanted to make sure we had someone who was confident while we were still trying to gel and mesh together and have the ability to score, as well.”
Plenette Pierson, Prairie View assistant coach
“So practicing and playing hard so that when we get to the SWAC, that’s going to be easy because we have already played the best of the best. We’ve already played UT, A&M; we’ve already played these tough teams, so we know what it takes.”
That’s exactly the takeaway their coaches desired.
“I wanted to see where we really are before we go into conference,” Dillard said. “I had a feeling where we would be because we’re really young. We don’t have any seniors; even our two leading scorers are sophomores (CJ Wilson and Schultz). They are leaders, but it’s still a challenge for them, too, stepping out in that light, as well.”
Being a leader is an aspect of her game that Schultz may have thought she had time to develop, but with six freshmen on the roster this season, her maturation has had to accelerate considerably. Suddenly, she finds herself playing big sister to teammates she isn’t quite a year older than.
“I’m a big sister, but we are the same age. It’s weird,” Schultz said. “I was just talking to my coach about it the other day. I’m not a captain or anything like that, but I think being able to talk to them, them being able to listen to me, and me giving good advice on the court and off the court.
“They know where you’ve been, so they know that if they don’t listen, they can’t really get to where you’ve been. I think it’s easier because we have a lot of people who are willing to listen and understand.”
At the same time, Dillard seems to have Schultz’s full attention because finally, she has a coach who has been where she ultimately wants to go. Dillard played for the University of Texas, spent a couple of seasons in the WNBA with the San Antonio Silver Stars, and then played overseas before returning home and beginning her coaching career.
“I think her personality is … bubbliness. But also her will to win,” Schultz said. “She is coming from UH, that’s a big school, so she knows what it takes to get there. Once I started researching her background, I was like, Oh yeah! We have somebody I can relate to. She has been where I want to go. She is a great person to talk to and coach P (assistant coach Plenette Pierson). They are just great people individually, and they are easy to talk to.”
