How freshman guard Shun’teria Anumele is making an early impact at Saint Louis

She started playing organized basketball in sixth grade, and while doubt started creeping in as she played against people who had been playing for years, the doubt started to fade as she was more consistent in the gym. Anumele’s ball-handling skills were one of the easiest things for her, but her jump shot took more time to develop, and it’s paid off. 

Anumele is the first in her family to go to college, something her family members enjoy bragging about to their coworkers. “Sometimes it just gets overwhelming because you feel like you have to do certain stuff to make them happy,” Anumele told The Next. “But overall, I love it. I love being the face of the family, or as people will say, I’m the face of my city.”

Win a New York Liberty trading card when you subscribe!

Until the end of November, every new subscriber (and subscription renewal) to The Next will be entered to win a Panini trading card celebrating the WNBA champion New York Liberty — and yes, we can confirm it will be the Ellie rookie card!

Though her father didn’t grow up playing basketball, Anumele believes he was the most influential person in her basketball career. “He always wanted a better life for me and my siblings than he had for himself,” she said. “So I definitely had him pushing me every single day. … Even before I started taking basketball seriously, he just pushed me to do anything that I wanted to do in order for me to be successful.”

Before Anumele came to Saint Louis, her father missed just a handful of games. Though she misses her parents now, their support is constant. She talks to her parents daily and FaceTimes them and her two younger brothers so that she can talk to her three dogs. The family atmosphere was something that drew her to Saint Louis, wanting to be around a group that did everything together because she did everything with her family.

As she got to know the team, she began opening up and coming out of her shell. One of her favorite activities was watching the reality TV shows “Love Island” and “Baddies” with her teammates.

“Our team went overboard. They decorated the room, they — it was a significant investment of our team in both ‘Love Island’ and ‘Baddies,’” Saint Louis head coach Rebecca Tillett told The Next. “And as a coach, I just — we love that that’s our team’s doing that. We didn’t tell them to come up with what are they going to watch together. That was a team-driven decision, and [it] has absolutely made a positive impact on our chemistry.”

Senior guard Kennedy Calhoun has taken Anumele under her wing. She wanted to do that because she received the same kind of mentoring from current Saint Louis assistant coach Tra’Dayja Smith when Calhoun was a freshman at Longwood and Smith was a graduate student. Calhoun provides Anumele guidance on how the program does things and helps her develop her point guard skills. Now that she’s in college, Anumele said that she needs to both figure out how she’s going to navigate the court and communicate to her teammates what they have to do.

Calhoun also gives Anumele encouraging words before every game, hyping her up with phrases like, “They can’t guard you.” That helps Anumele go into the game with confidence.

Want even more women’s sports in your inbox?

Subscribe now to our sister publication The IX and receive our independent women’s sports newsletter six days a week. Learn more about your favorite athletes and teams around the world competing in soccer, tennis, basketball, golf, hockey and gymnastics from our incredible team of writers.

Readers of The Next now save 50% on their subscription to The IX.

Anumele caught Tillett’s eye the summer before her junior year playing on a sprained ankle for her AAU team. Tillett continued to get to know Anumele and, after seeing her play with her high school team, came to the conclusion that “this is a really dynamic, special guard that I would just love to work with,” Tillett recalled. 

Anumele played in just six games in her first two years of high school. She attended two different high schools as a freshman, then attempted to transfer to St. Pius X High School, looking for a stronger academic school for her sophomore year. The transfer fell through, and she returned to her first school, Travis High School. However, the University Interscholastic League declared her ineligible, and she had to sit out her sophomore year. 

Despite playing just two full seasons — her junior year at Royal High School and her senior year at Austin High School — Anumele finished her high school career with 1,562 points. Looking back on the experience, she believes the extended time off from the court taught her the importance of being consistent, acknowledging that if she wasn’t in the gym during that time, she wouldn’t be where she is today.

On her high school teams, Anumele recalls being the best player on the court and her coaches not pushing her as hard as she would have liked. At Saint Louis, Tillett told her she was going to push her because she wants Anumele to be the best.

Since coming to Saint Louis, Anumele said the easiest part of the transition has been on the basketball court, and the most difficult part has been in the classroom as a nursing major. Calhoun said Anumele is always in the gym, working out or watching her teammates’ workouts. And if she isn’t in the gym, Anumele usually isn’t too far away. Calhoun noted that Anumele can sometimes be found in the locker room doing homework. 

Tillett can see the work that Anumele puts in on the court and in the classroom. “We’re passionate about our women pursuing whatever major they want. That is why they’re here, to get an incredible education and compete at the highest level in basketball,” she said. “So really excited that she chose that major. … Nursing is a real helping profession [with] people that help patients in their greatest times of need. And I think it fits perfectly with who Shun is and how she wants to serve in her lifetime.” 

When Anumele was a freshman in high school, she began her efforts to give back to her community, giving out toys to kids in the Third Ward and Northside areas of Houston and handing out blankets and food to people who are homeless.

“When I got into high school, I became very fortunate, and I’m so grateful for that,” she said. “But growing up, my parents didn’t have it the best, and there was a lot of things I wanted for Christmas and stuff like that. So when that time comes around, I definitely want to give back to those kids who are in that position.”

Over her winter break, Anumele’s father plans to come to St. Louis, where they’ll hand out presents and blankets. Tillett said that Anumele also plans to do a toy drive in St. Louis and that her eyes light up every time the team does community service. 

“It just shows her commitment to caring deeply about other people,” Tillett said. “And as a coach, you want to help each player find what makes them feel passionate and feel driven, and when that’s also paired in the service environment, it’s a really powerful combination, both in helping other people and then also it translates to the basketball environment.

“Because if that’s where your heart is as a person, then that will translate on the court in the game, because basketball honors people that are tough and care about other people. And Shun’s both those things.”

Though Anumele wasn’t sure she’d make an impact on the court right away, it didn’t come as a surprise to Calhoun and Tillett. Anumele’s desire to win as well as her competitive drive and competitive spirit made that clear to Calhoun from the first practice. 

“Shun is just — flat-out can score the ball,” Calhoun told The Next. “And I’ve said this over and over, but on a team, you need women who are just flat-out tough, and in any moment she can get a bucket, in any moment she’s going to make a tough play. I think that’s something that we all look forward to having, and it’s something that we need.”

In seven games this season, Anumele is averaging 11.9 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. She scored 26 points in her second game of the year against Drake. However, her season has not started perfectly. Anumele is shooting 30.4% from the floor, including 23.8% from behind the arc, and is averaging 3.3 turnovers per game. She’s also struggled with foul trouble at times, fouling out in 11 minutes in the team’s Nov. 17 loss to Southern Indiana and recording four fouls in two other games this season. 

As Anumele works toward her goal of earning the Atlantic 10’s Rookie of the Year award, she is aware of where she needs to, and wants to, grow. One area she’d like to improve is developing a “strong mentality.” She said, “I feel like when I get upset or down on myself, it shows in my game, and once I can figure out how to operate that, then my game will flourish more.”

Add Locked On Women’s Basketball to your daily routine

Here at The Next, in addition to the 24/7/365 written content our staff provides, we also host the daily Locked On Women’s Basketball podcast. Join us Monday through Saturday each week as we discuss all things WNBA, collegiate basketball, basketball history and much more. Listen wherever you find podcasts or watch on YouTube.

Saint Louis’ core values include toughness, joy, love and collective responsibility, and Tillett believes Anumele embodies all four. “She’s a tough player, I think, on both sides of the ball,” Tillett said. “The joy piece she has with [her] sense of humor. … I do think she loves her teammates. And I think she’s learning about collective responsibility. That’s often a phrase that players that are new to — and staff members that are new to — our organization learn from. 

“And to us, that means you take all of your personal accountability for what you could have done better in any given moment, and then you also are responsible for helping every other woman or staff member or teammate get to their highest level of ‘arete,’ of excellence. And I think that she has that as well and is learning how powerful that is in a team environment.”

Tillett also appreciates Anumele’s self-awareness and wants to see her consistently celebrating.

“[We want] to get her in that joyful place, deflecting it, scoring, being involved in the next play, showing off her ability to make the right reads,” Tillett said. “I think just see her get into that rhythm, which is really typical of freshmen of having to find that rhythm. And I think she’s still on that path of finding that.”

On both sides of the ball, Tillett is impressed by Anumele’s vision and anticipation, noting that some steals she’s gotten have been from preparation, including watching film. As the season progresses, Tillett looks forward to seeing how Anumele continues to disrupt opponents with steals and deflections.

On the offensive end, Tillett believes that Anumele’s ability to drive, including her tenacity and strength, makes her unique.

Order ‘Rare Gems’ and save 30%

Howard Megdal, founder and editor of The Next and The IX, released his latest book on May 7, 2024. This deeply reported story follows four connected generations of women’s basketball pioneers, from Elvera “Peps” Neuman to Cheryl Reeve and from Lindsay Whalen to Sylvia Fowles and Paige Bueckers.

If you enjoy his coverage of women’s basketball every Wednesday at The IX, you will love “Rare Gems: How Four Generations of Women Paved the Way for the WNBA.” Click the link below to order and enter MEGDAL30 at checkout.

Though the season is less than a month old, Tillett is also proud of Anumele for exceeding expectations for how she’s handling the weight and “healthy pressure” of being a talented freshman who wants to be great. Anumele and those around her can already see her growth over the few months she’s been at Saint Louis.

“Anything that we teach her on any given day, whether it’s film or scout preparation or in the summer, you see her applying that information in her next workout, in her next practice, in her next game,” Tillett said. “So I think that’s a common trait that all the best players have. And I think Shun has the potential to be a best player in her career. And I know that that’s part of her goals.”