Editor’s note: This is the third in a series of weekly features profiling newcomers on the UTC women’s basketball team, leading up to the Nov. 13 season opener against McNeese State.
As much basketball as Molly Melton has played through her life, she’s still learning.
Part of that is because she hasn’t played a full season in three years due to a pair of ACL injuries and a torn labrum suffered during the course of her high school career.
Another reason is that the 5-foot-4 freshman University of Tennessee at Chattanooga guard who prepped at Knoxville Webb is figuring out a new way to be effective: playing under people.
“Small players have an advantage in this game if they learn that,” UTC coach Jim Foster said. “I’ve coached some pretty undersized players that had pretty good careers because they were fearless, could get up under players and cause all kinds of problems.
“A lot of people play upright. If you can get up under them when they’re upright, the advantage is yours.”
That’s a phrase Melton never heard before arriving at UTC, but she’s willing to work on the concept. One thing she is already good at is distributing the ball, but she hasn’t really had much of a chance to showcase those skills in game action because of the injuries. Foster said she’ll have a role running the point with the second team in practice, something he didn’t have a year ago because all of the point guards – the graduated Ka’Vonne Towns, senior Alicia Payne and junior Chelsey Shumpert – all started.
“I’m just trying to grow and learn the system,” Melton said. “I want to do what I can for the team, and whatever role I’m in, I want to do that. I want to be able to get the ball to the playmakers, let them do their thing, then defend the best I can.”
The fact she’s getting a chance to learn under a coach with Foster’s credentials is an added bonus of playing with a team that has been picked to win the Southern Conference and compete for another NCAA tournament berth.
“I’m just excited to be part of the team,” she said. “I want to continue to win.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.