Shyanne Sellers positioned to take yet another leap forward for Maryland women’s basketball

For Maryland women’s basketball, the 2023-24 season will be the second straight year in which a star’s production needs to be replaced.

Many wondered how guard Diamond Miller would fare after forward Angel Reese left the team following the 2021-22 season. Miller put any questions to bed early, averaging 19.7 points and 6.4 rebounds a game, while also leading Maryland back to the Elite Eight. She was then picked No. 2 overall in the WNBA Draft. The teams second-highest scorer, Abby Meyers, was taken No. 11 overall.

That leaves the opportunity for junior guard Shyanne Sellers to become Maryland’s top option on both sides of the floor this season.

Expectations are sky-high for Sellers, deservedly so. Since arriving to Maryland, she’s only gotten better and better.

As a freshman, Sellers averaged 7.7 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game and broke through as the top choice off the bench en route to being named Big Ten Sixth Player of the Year. And she made another jump last season, averaging 13.9 points, 4.8 rebounds and a team-high 3.9 assists per game, while making 30 starts. She was later named to the All-Big Ten defensive team and the All-Big Ten first team by the media.

For head coach Brenda Frese, Sellers is ready to take the next step, and while there is going to be a lot more weight on Sellers’ shoulders this year, she is more than capable of being the No. 1 option.

“[We’re] asking her to really have to do it all, in terms of a point guard scoring, defending, running the team,” said Frese. “She’s had two great years and has kind of gotten thrown into it, and is more than prepared for that next step in her development.”

One of the big questions surrounding her development is if she will be able to put up the same numbers now that defenses can focus more on her without Miller also in the fold.

On the Under the Shell podcast, Sellers said it’s not necessarily her job to be a one-man band, and that her teammates will be a big part of her performance. “Getting other people involved early is going to be really important,” she said.

Sellers has been a staple in the backcourt since her freshman season, is skilled on both sides of the floor and is well-positioned to be a leader in her third year with the program.

During Big Ten Media Day on Oct. 9th, she was asked what her new role will be this season after the departures of Miller and Meyers. She uttered a similar message about her role: “Exactly the same … I’m just going to play my game.”

She may not have the same flashiness as Reese or Miller, but “Junior Shy” is set to lead Maryland in her own way.