Jayla Thornton's Basketball Balancing Act

The Syracuse guard always managed to find time to play sports and achieve success in the classroom at Howard, her undergraduate university. Her current assignment in grad school? Improve her game on the court and her analyst skills on air.

Late, late, late.

My 10 AM interview with Jayla Thornton, guard for the Syracuse University Women’s Basketball team, was not off to a good start. It was 10:08 and I wasn’t even inside yet.

While jogging towards the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, located at the eastern edge of ‘Cuse's campus, the lukewarm coffee I had waited ten minutes for at Dunkin’ Donuts began trickling slowly down my arm.

I stumbled up the stairs, dodging any passers-by going in the opposite direction. Jayla told me to meet her in room 276. As I ran from classroom to classroom, unsure of my surroundings, it dawned on me how little I really knew about the building I had spent the previous five months taking classes in.

At long last, I opened the door to a tiny glass room in the corner of the second floor. There Jayla was, flipping through her phone. Her friend and teammate Eboni gave me a hello, which I knew meant a lot since she was clearly half-awake. It’s hard for anyone to be fully conscious after a grueling morning of practice, followed by a full day of classes.

Still, Jayla managed to find some time for the interview right before her 11 AM class. Thornton’s demeanor was easy-going but also experienced; rarely did she stutter or mix up her words answering a question. Myself, a sweaty, barely caffeinated mess, needed to know how she did it. How she found time to balance a workload that would make my demanding journalism school tenure look like kindergarten.

“Discipline.”

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In many ways, a fifth-year player pursuing a master’s degree is a forgotten figure in sports media coverage; the spotlight tends to shine on superstars destined for greatness at the next level. But for every Zion Williamson or A’ja Wilson, there is a Jayla Thornton. Someone who wasn’t necessarily born to hoop, but found their own way to the game they love. In Jayla’s case, that love pushed her towards covering sports on air, a route taken by former college players such as Maria Taylor and Monica McNutt.

It was a balanced resume, and a bit of perseverance, that got Thornton admitted into Newhouse, one of the nation’s leading journalism programs. Currently in her sixth month on campus as a graduate student following four years at Howard, Jayla’s days now consist of juggling her role as a member of the basketball team with a rigorous academic workload. A normal day for Jayla typically consists of practices that start as early as 6 AM, a brief break of an hour or so, then classes throughout the rest of the afternoon.

Thornton isn’t alone in her pursuit of graduate school. According to the NCAA, about 2,300 students pursue graduate school annually, regardless of gender. As for transfer students, over 1,000 women’s basketball players entered the portal as of May 22nd, 2021. Ultimately, excelling as a student-athlete while adjusting to new surroundings is a challenge few are able to take on. Jayla’s methodical mindset helps keep things from getting out of control.

“For me, it’s just always been a part of my lifestyle. My mom always honed in on me, keeping that balance and always being on top of everything,” said Jayla. “It sounds cliche, but I just stay disciplined, stay committed, get my priorities in order. My teammates always laugh at me, saying I’m always on my computer no matter where I’m at. I just always like to double-check, make sure I’m good on this before I do this. I’ve just always been very detailed.”

The youngest Thornton child had plenty of role-models growing up in Newark’s Forest Hill neighborhood, from her “always academic” mom Shamirra, who works for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and two siblings born ten years before.

To Shamirra, her daughter has always tried to prove that one can be both a student and an athlete. That level of dedication has required sacrifices, such as cutting out social time with friends or staying up until 1 in the morning to finish an assignment. It also means blocking out any notions of quitting or giving up.

“When she puts her mind to something, it's very hard for Jayla to end it. Once she dedicates herself to something she likes to see it through,” said Shamirra Thornton. “Over the years of everybody talking to her, her dad, coaches and everything, they kind of enforced in her the ability to just keep believing in herself.”

Once playing basketball became a fixture in Jayla’s world, especially in high school, she was faced with a dilemma: how to balance her new passion with her old work ethic.

“It was very hard for her at times, because she wants to excel in both [school and sports],” said Shamirra Thornton. “She puts in a lot of time in both, and sometimes it removes her having free time. You know, very limited with going out with friends and stuff like that because she wanted to get an A in both.”

“If you want to excel on the court, sometimes your grades will get hit. Jayla wouldn’t have it. Not gonna have that at all,” said Jay Thornton, Jayla’s father. “‘I can do it, I can do it,’ because she didn’t want to take a backseat.”

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For Jayla, her journey to basketball initially came from watching games with her father Jay. While she may not have played competitively at a young age, it was those moments at home that gave Thornton an appreciation for and understanding of the game. It also inspired her to think of the game analytically, rather than just as a player.

“She always watched sports with her father everyday. Like, that’s mandatory,” said Shamirra Thornton. “They're either watching one of the analyst shows or watching the game. He would always dissect basketball with her as a little girl.”

While young Jayla certainly watched her fair share of basketball, she had never considered joining a team until the seventh grade. Then a “real girly” girl, Thornton only tried out on the whim of her friends; nothing too serious. Sure, she had spent countless hours playing with her older cousin and watching games with her hoops-obsessed father, but she never considered basketball to be a part of her future. Then she made the team.

“I told my parents. They did not believe me. They thought I was playing,” said Jayla. “I came home, brought the jersey, and ever since then I’ve just been rockin’ with it.”

It didn’t take long for Jayla to figure out her biggest strength was as a shooter from long-distance, which proved invaluable for her play style in both high school and college.

“I love to shoot, whether it’s a pullup or a three, I’ll shoot. I’ll shoot it wherever,” said Jayla. “It was really frustrating in the beginning. I can say that I started to see that I could shoot the ball really well my sophomore year of high school. From there it just started coming together.”

Developing an outside shot demanded a level of commitment from Jayla that equaled her academic pursuits. On any given day during basketball season, Jayla’s afterschool regimen could consist of two hours of team practice, drills with a personal trainer, or Jay, right after, and school work for the rest of the night. After her freshman year at Newark Tech, Jayla transferred across town to Malcolm X Shabazz High School, located on the city’s south side. The move gave her a chance to compete at one of the top women’s basketball programs in the area and, in Jay’s opinion, develop mental toughness.

“Jayla, when she first started basketball...she knew how to shoot. She was naturally smart, but once I saw that Jayla was very much interested in the game, I knew we had to catch [her] up to speed,” said Jay Thornton. “It’s not just skillset, it’s a mental thing. That’s the reason why we sent her to the other school [Shabazz], to develop the mental toughness, the camaraderie with the other girls.”

Despite her change in schools, Jayla recognized the need to push her game even further. That’s why she connected with Walter Welsh, coach and founder of iExcel, an AAU women’s basketball team and education program located across the Hudson River in New York City.

Welsh had first seen Thornton play on the recommendation of Shabazz assistant coach and Syracuse alum Iashia Hemmingway. He was immediately impressed by her fearlessness and lights-out shooting, but saw some room for improvement. Despite having spent nearly four decades mentoring girls (Welsh said 35 Division I players this year previously played for iExcel), getting to understand Jayla still took some time.

“Her personality, she has to get to know you to warm up,” said Welsh. “Once you do that, it’s great. She came to all the practices, the workouts. Put a lot of time into it.”

As for Jayla, Walter’s unique coaching style took some getting used to as well, with a focus on being a well-rounded player rather than just a spot-up shooter.

“He was really hard on me, but he definitely helped me develop my basketball IQ. Seeing the game from a different perspective, slowing it down, giving me that confidence, and just holding me accountable,” said Jayla. “He’s just always been there for me since day one. There are some days you feel like ‘Oh my gosh, I don’t think he cares,’ but he always does.”

It was at iExcel where Welsh first noticed Jayla becoming a leader, evolving from the soft-spoken girl he first met to a young woman capable of giving her team mentorship and motivation.

“[At first] she was so quiet. After practice we’d say ‘Are you ok?’,” said Welsh. “She learned the value of talking, of being a leader. That’s the growth we look for in our young people. That you come in one way, you leave another way in a positive way because you understand what it takes.”

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As Thornton’s game progressed, the possibility of playing college ball became not just a dream, but an inevitability. Jayla’s recruiting process, hectic for any teenager, meant finding a school that fit her need for balance. The Thornton family asked Welsh where he thought she could thrive; he suggested Howard University.

“She [Jayla] called when she was going to make her decision the first time, and I always felt that [Howard] was below her in terms of I thought she could have played at a higher level because I knew her success would come very quickly,” said Welsh. “We talked about those things and what the school brings academically, socially, and the other things that college is supposed to give a young person.”

“Howard definitely gave me that balance academically and athletically. When I went on my visit, some people might call this a cliche, I just got that feeling,” Thornton said. “It just felt like where I was supposed to be.”

The fit proved to be fairly seamless for Jayla, who saw shades of her urban upbringing at the Washington D.C.-based university. Her level of comfort at Howard soon translated to performance on and off the court. By the end of her second season, Thornton made the first of two MEAC All-Conference Third Team selections. That same year, she maintained a 4.0 GPA average for both the fall and spring semesters, the highest in all of women’s basketball. Maintaining high standards wasn’t automatic for Jayla; it demanded a daily commitment.

“Most people think of the gear and all the other stuff, but there’s a lot of other factors that go into being a student-athlete,” Jayla said. “It’s really time consuming. Really, really time consuming. It plays into everything else you do. You’re always living off a schedule.”

Looming over Jayla’s senior year was the threat of Covid-19, leading to postponements and uncertainty in the fall semester. Thornton and her teammates still didn’t lose faith; even with the pandemic raging, Howard prepared for their next game, even if they didn’t know when they would play it or who it would be against.

“We’d all come down to school and we were all following the protocol,” said Jayla. “Everybody across the country was kind of doing the same thing, and being in the DMV (D.C., Maryland, Virginia), with a lot of colleges in that area, I figured we’d get some games in.”

Thornton saved her best for last at Howard; once the team was finally able to play games again, Jayla led the Bison to a 10-2 record and won the 2021 MEAC Player of the Year, averaging 13.5 points per game. With an award and a degree under her belt, graduate school was the next logical step.

Typically, graduate student athletes tend to stick around; 81% stay at their current university for postgraduate studies. Yet once Jayla considered entering the transfer portal, a call from former Syracuse head coach Quentin Hillsman presented her with an opportunity too good to pass up: the chance to play for a major basketball program and build off of her Sports Management major.

“When I got the call from Coach Q, I just felt like Syracuse, system-wise, play-style wise, played how I play,” said Jayla. “They also had the degrees that I always wanted to take, so that’s what made them stand out.”

Going to Syracuse did present new challenges for Thornton compared to life at Howard. The kid from Newark, who spent her college days in D.C., entered a world filled with tall trees, roaming deer, and gigantic hills. In other words, the exact opposite of her normal surroundings.

“Just coming out here and seeing how spaced out everything is, it's definitely a different look,” Jayla said. “Of course it’s not like you’re in the middle of nowhere, but it’s just really different than the fast-paced lifestyle that I’m used to.”

Currently majoring in Television, Radio, and Film, Thornton now operates the same way she always has. Putting in hours of work, looking for potential weaknesses, and staying disciplined. When she isn’t playing ball, there’s a good chance Jayla will be covering basketball in the studio, or working on something else behind the scenes. Her goal, to be “well-rounded on the media side,” includes understanding time slots, camera angles, and talking conversationally during segments, even if her appearances on air are limited due to her commitment to the women’s team.

“I’ve been doing stuff for ACC Network, like pregame shows for men’s basketball, and kind of just getting that feel of being an analyst,” said Jayla. “Just trying to learn everything I can. For one of my production classes we had to make a studio show, so even though I haven’t exactly been on-air, I feel like I’ve been learning through other assignments.”

For the girl who has dreamed of hosting NBA Countdown since those early days on the couch with dad, her career path doesn’t come as much of a surprise to those who know her best. In fact, it may have seemed inevitable.

“She’s just a sports fan. It’s just a matter of if Jayla doesn’t play basketball, she’s going to be in the sports field in some capacity. Somehow, someway,” said Jay Thornton.

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As a sports writer, it’s often easy to get lost in an athlete’s in-game achievements. Statistics, awards, and championships are a good way to measure a player on the court, but off of it things get difficult to assess.

On top of her daily schedule, a recent injury has sidelined Jayla from some of the Orange’s most recent games. A field goal percentage of 30% and points per game average of 5.6, while well below her normal averages, can be partially attributed to a small sample size. Thornton has played in just five games and taken a total of 32 shots.

Thornton’s drive and work ethic are not necessarily unique traits; there are plenty of young athletes who push themselves to the limit without any promise of professional glory and accolades. What is rare about Thornton is her ability to dedicate herself, and her incredibly rare free time, to off-court pursuits. She frequently mentions discipline during our interview, because it’s what she was raised on.

However, the first word that comes to mind is balance. Jayla balancing herself into a well-rounded, capable graduate student. Balancing hoop dreams with the reality that there may not be another team after Syracuse. Balancing out the competitor on the court with the commentator on the mic.

Juggling two exerting, time-consuming ventures may seem nearly impossible to most college students; the constant grind of practice followed by lectures is not for everyone. But for Jayla, it comes naturally. She’s been preparing for this for quite some time.