By Jason Bowen/Daily Sentinel
Following a magical senior season in which she helped Section High School win the Class 2A girls state championship, Taylor Adams was nervous about the next phase of her basketball life.
In April of 2012, she signed a letter of intent to play at Gadsden State Co-mmunity College.
Adams had offers from several schools and questioned whether or not she had made the right decision.
Adams also fretted over playing in a new style with new teammates and living away from home.
“I didn’t know what to expect,” she said. “I was just nervous about everything.”
Adams may have had anxiety over the move to Gadsden State, but her performance did not reflect it.
The former Class 2A Play-er of the Year became a starter right away as a freshman during the 2012-13 season, helping the Cardinals finish 24-8 and make it to the state tournament semifinals.
Adams closed out her Gadsden State career this past season by helping the Cardinals go 28-6 and post a runner-up finish in the Alabama Community College Conference’s 2014 state tournament.
The 6-foot-1 forward averaged 12 points and 12 rebounds per game during her sophomore season. She scored in double figures in 18 games and recorded a double-figure rebound total in 28 games. Adams led the ACCC in rebounding and shooting percentage (60 percent). She was an all-ACCC Tournament selection, a first-team ACCC All-North Division selection and a second team All-Region selection.
It turned out that Adams made the right decision.
“I couldn’t have made a better one,” Adams said. “You look back and you can’t believe it’s already been two years.”
Adams hopes to have the same type of impact at her next stop.
Last December Adams committed to play at Shorter University and signed with the Rome, Ga., school this spring. She chose Shorter, an NCAA Division II school that competes in the Gulf South Conference, over other opportunities at Troy, Jacksonville State and Harris (Ga.) College.
“(Shorter’s) coaches started talking to me my freshman year (at GSCC),” Adams said. “I liked them. I liked (the campus). It seemed like a good atmosphere, like the one at Gadsden State.”
Shorter, which recently moved to NCAA Division II from NAIA, went 6-20 last season. Shorter is entering its third year in the Gulf South Conference, but this coming season the Lady Hawks will be eligible for postseason play for the first time as a Division II member.
Adams said she is excited about the opportunity to play a role in building Shorter’s basketball program at the Division II level.
Adams, who recently was named to the National Junior College Athletic Association Academic Team after graduating from GSCC with a 3.62 grade point average, reports to Shorter on Aug. 15.
She is considering a career in education and coa-ching.
As she readies for another transition in her basketball career, Adams is not feeling the same type of nervousness she felt during her last transition. She attributes that to her experience at Gadsden State.
“It turned out a lot better than I thought it would,” Adams said. “My decision to go to Gadsden State was a good decision. I hope I like it at (Shorter) as much as I did at Gadsden State.”