Written by: Tim Gayle

When Durriya Shields-Sampson was offered a job as a security official with FedEx Corporation in her hometown of Memphis, Tenn., it seemed like the logical next step for the Alabama State graduate, who held a degree in criminal justice. But before she accepted the offer, she decided to have a conversation with ASU women's basketball coach Freda Freeman-Jackson.

"When I got that offer, I was going to move back but she asked me to stay," Sampson said. "I've got the rest of my life to work. I'll find plenty of jobs to offer me good money because I've got my degree. I'm not worried about working. With basketball, you can't do that the rest of your life. So many people would dream of playing D-I basketball and I only have one year left. I don't want to have any regrets."
The decision to stay paid off for both Sampson and the Lady Hornets, who will face Texas in a first-round NCAA Tournament game on Saturday night. An Alabama State team that needed some direction got a lift from the return of its most experienced point guard, while Sampson got to live out her dream of playing college basketball after her life off the court threatened to derail it. 

"I am so proud of her," Jackson said. "You're talking about a kid that didn't play her junior year. She ended up starting a family, having a baby and getting married, and then she came back for her fourth year. For her to come back in the middle of the season to help us, that tells you what type of player she is.

"She got her degree this fall and didn't play any basketball. She wanted to focus on her academics and she came back after she graduated. I think she's one of the main reasons why we're in the position we're in now."

As a freshman in 2011-12, she was a backup who played sparingly. She saw a little more action in 2012-13, but was still the backup to Taila Arrington. She was redshirted in 2013-14 as Arrington developed into one of the stars on the team.

"At the end of that year, I got pregnant," Sampson recalled. "Coaches called me back to start workouts and I hadn't told them I was pregnant yet. I was about five months. I told (Jackson) I had something to tell her. I had a jacket on and it was kind of hot so she was suspicious already. I unzipped my jacket and she saw my pudge and she told me she had to tell the rest of the coaches. She called them in and they were excited."

But as reality set in – Durriya was now married to former Alabama State receiver Chaz Sampson and gave birth to Chaz, Jr., on Sept. 5, 2014 – she began to wonder whether she would ever play a game in the Acadome again.

"When I told her I was pregnant, she said she would allow me to come back after I had the baby," she said. "Then I started making plans to come back but I had gotten married and my husband had a scholarship at Faulkner.

"I love basketball so much and I always wanted to play. I even thought about going somewhere else to play once I graduated. I was going to go Division II afterwards to play my last two years. I never gave up basketball but I didn't know that I was going to be playing here again."

Sampson returned to the court in January, 2015, but played in just 11 games and took just one shot. Her collegiate career, which once appeared on the upswing after a couple of years as a backup, now looked as if it might be over.

"I wasn't really productive because I was just coming off of having a baby," she said. "I had my baby in September and I took the rest of the semester off. I stayed home (in Memphis) and in January I came back. My family and I moved here and that's when I started back playing.

"It was tough because I wasn't in shape, I wasn't ready. A lot of it was just a will to come back, a will to want to help my team."
Now, she was gone again, determined to finish school in 2015 and earn her degree in criminal justice. As practice opened for the defending conference champions in November, Sampson was once again on the sidelines, unable to help her team.

"I had to intern and it would have conflicted with my practice schedule," she said. "I really wanted to graduate so that's what I was focusing on."

She earned her degree in December and sat down for another heart-to-heart talk with Jackson.

"She had talked about coming back but I told her to focus on her family and getting her degree," the ASU coach said. "Once she got her degree, we talked about it and she decided to come back. She had to get with her husband because he's having to work and he's over at Faulkner, trying to play football, and they don't have any family here. It's been very rough for her. We've been her family. Her baby comes to practice and we just juggle her schedule the best way we know how."

The fifth-year senior's timing was perfect. The Lady Hornets were struggling through the non-conference portion of their schedule and in need of an offensive spark.

"When 'D' came back, it was more as an anchor at the point guard position," fellow senior Jasmine Peeples said. "We had Shamyiah (Smith), who was a freshman, Elisiah Jones, who is a freshman this year, and Damya Toney, who we were counting on to be the point guard, but she hurt her ACL in the WNIT. When she went down, we were really just floundering at the point guard position.
"When 'D' came back around the time conference play started, it just brought a lot of experience. And I really feel like Shayiah and Elisiah have just flourished playing with her."

Sampson played just two minutes in a loss at Jackson State and just 13 in a loss at Grambling. She earned the starting point guard position on Jan. 9 against Mississippi Valley State in a 100-50 rout. Alabama State, which entered the game with a 2-9 record and winless in two Southwestern Athletic Conference games, found the right spark with Sampson at point guard, winning 17 of their final 19 games with a new leader directing the offense.

"It's kind of tough, being that," she said. "I have younger people looking up to me so I have to change my focus because most of the time my focus is on my family. I know they're watching me and they're looking for instruction. I have to make sure I'm that role model."
Along the way, the team has picked up a new mascot of sorts as Chaz Jr., often makes the trip to practice with his mom.

"I really commend the coaching staff because I don't see any other school allowing that to happen," Sampson said. "He's in practice, he's in film and they love him so much. Me being a first-time mother, I'm kind of protective of my son. We're cautious who we let watch him. With my teammates and my coaches, I just feel the love. I trust them."

It's a mutual feeling. With Durriya Shields-Sampson at the point, Alabama State shared the Southwestern Athletic Conference regular-season title, won the conference tournament championship and is now in the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year, playing at Texas in a first-round game.

"This is an amazing feeling, coming from my first two years," she said. "We struggled a lot. To be a part of this program and what it's turned into, I'm seeing it with my own eyes and it's amazing."