by Malik Vincent
Former Pitt forward Shayla Scott achieved a variety of accomplishments both on and off the court during her tenure as a four-year starter for the Panthers—now comes the next challenge.
On Aug. 31, Scott, 22, was named as an assistant women’s basketball coach at LaSalle University in Philadelphia. There, she is reunited with Jeff Williams who took over at the Atlantic-10 school last season after being a part of Pitt’s staff for seven seasons as the assistant head coach.
 |
| SHAYLA SCOTT |
“This experience will be very rewarding and I’m looking forward to getting started,” Scott said. “I’m just a few months removed from being one of the athletes. So I’m still very familiar with the academics and the conditioning and everything that comes with playing on the division-I level.”
Scott, who stands 6-foot-1, put up 12 double-double performances over her career that including back-to-back NCAA tournament Sweet 16 appearances. Her 710 rebounds are 10th best in Pitt Women’s basketball history.
She’ll serve as an academic liaison on the coaching staff. She will also work with some of the LaSalle post players, which ironically, is the same job that Williams had while coaching Scott.
“I’m excited to bring Shayla into our family, she’s the perfect fit,” Williams said. “She played for me for three years at the University of Pittsburgh. She has a phenomenal intellect of the game and I’m excited about her joining.”
Scott received both her Bachelors and Masters degrees in only four years at Pitt. Her undergraduate is in Professional and Media Communication and she earned her Masters in Health and Fitness.
Embracing the term “student-athlete,” she’s also served as the secretary of Pitt’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and the prestigious Blue and Gold society.
“Most importantly, Shayla is a student-athlete and the type of person I want mentoring our kids,” Williams said. “She has great character and she knows what it’s like to be a student-athlete and compete at a high level both on the court and in the classroom.”
Though going across state to where most people love cheesesteaks and the Eagles, Scott vows to remain loyal to the Steel City.
“I’ve spent the first 22 years of my life here and this is home,” Scott said. “I’m going to continue to be proud of Pittsburgh and I’ll keep being a Steelers fan.”
(Malik Vincent can be reached at malikvincent@gmail.com.)
About Post Author
