Sandusky's Ta'Sharra Jeffries scores big overseas

SANDUSKY — Ta'Sharra Jeffries had the green light to shoot the basketball. Anytime, anywhere. Jeffries, a Sandusky High School graduate, played her first season of professional basketball last winter in Kosovo. Her team included many young players, and as one of the "imports" Jeffries was expected to fire away. "They want you to shoot. If you don't shoot you get yelled at," Jeffries said during a recent interview. "I might pass and someone would shoot an airball. They were like, 'Why didn't you shoot?' I said, 'She was open.' It was hard to get assists on my team. "They knew when Americans came the coach wanted them to take the shot. I would pass them the ball and they would pass it right back." Jeffries averaged a league-high 37.1 points in 21 games for Trepca, one of six teams in the Kosovo Basketball Federation. She lived in Mitrovica, a city with a population similar to Erie County. It didn't take long for the 5-foot-6 combo guard to realize what she signed up for. "I didn't think I would blow up so fast," she said. "The first game I scored 26 points and everybody was shocked. It was a small town and everyone thought I was the best." The lower-level league played under FIBA rules: 40-minute games, 10-minute quarters, 24-second shot clock, 8 seconds to get across half court. Normal basketball stuff. Then there was the not-so-normal stuff in the league that ran from October to early April. "The gyms are cold," Jeffries said. "I remember one game when we were talking, we could see our breath. I had hair products in and my hair would be steaming. We had the best gym, we had heat and didn't have dead spots on the floor and it was clean." Jeffries, 25, wore long sleeves and leggings, but some nights that wasn't enough. "My hands were always cold. I couldn't talk because my lips were cold," she said. "It was winter and we were in the mountains. That was very hard. I wanted to bring back some hand warmers when I came back from Christmas but I forgot them." A fan favorite Jeffries' team played one game per week and traveled by van. Only three Americans were allowed to play at the same time. The crowds were similar to what she saw in high school, Jeffries said, and the gyms were small. Still, it was a job. She lived in a club-provided apartment and the team provided three meals per day at local restaurants. "It was chicken and rice every day for me, but no complaints," Jeffries said. "The menu was in English. They had fish, steak, chicken, pizza." Jeffries, who launched about 20 3-pointers per game, became a fan favorite and built a following on Instagram. "I had like 700 followers from that city," she said. "They would ask to take photos and say thanks for helping our team. They treat you like you're LeBron James." Jeffries' young team finished fourth in the six-team league with an 8-13 record but improved as the season wore on. In the final game of the regular season, Trepca upset the team that won the in-season Kosovo Cup. Jeffries scored 52 points, making 10 3s and 16 free throws in a 92-85 win over Bashkimi. "My team had a lot of high school-aged girls. Their team was actually professionals, women, 22 and up," Jeffries said. "They had a woman who had played in the WNBA. That helped get my name out there more. "Last year (Trepca) only won one game. This year we made it to the playoffs." Jeffries' high game was 65 points on October 24. She scored 62 in a game in March and also had games of 55 and 54 points. She made 121 of 152 free throws, but said she should have taken more. "The refs know you're more skilled than most of the girls and won't call fouls for you," Jeffries said. "I would have blood on my jersey sometimes and would not get a foul called. If you say anything, they want to T you up. You have to be on their good side. If they don't like you, nobody on the team will get the call." Long path to Europe Jeffries graduated from Alderson Broaddus University in Philippi, West Virginia, in 2020, majoring in interdisciplinary studies. The summer following graduation she played well in a league in Philadelphia and met a player who suggested she play in a California league the next year. She ended up as rookie of the year in the Women's Universal Basketball Association in 2021. She connected with an agent from Elite Global Athletes and signed a contract last September to venture to Kosovo. The trip took about 14 hours and three flight connections. She quickly learned that the electrical plugs overseas weren't compatible with her devices. "I couldn't use my laptop," she said. "I was watching Netflix on my phone for three months. Only thing that worked there was Netflix and YouTube. I rewatched Gray's Anatomy, all 18 seasons. I propped my phone up and watched it." Her team practiced twice per day, but many of her teammates could only make the afternoon sessions because they were in school. And there was a language barrier to overcome. "I think the only person in Kosovo who did not know English was my coach. He might know 1 through 5 and yes, no," Jeffries said. "We'd have one of the younger girls translate during timeouts. He's talking in Albanian but I had no idea what he's saying. He'd tell me, 'They're young girls and we want you to shoot.' The game was me playing one-on-one." Working every day Jeffries, who credited former Sandusky coach Richard Koonce with helping develop her game at a young age, saw her confidence rise after dealing with double- and triple-team defense. "He made me better and better," she said of Koonce. "Without him I don't know where I'd be. He changed everything. From my junior year I worked out every day nonstop." Jeffries was a three-sport standout at Sandusky (basketball, track, soccer) and still puts in work in the gym. SHS athletic director Shawn Coakley has seen her go shot for shot with former Blue Streaks star Tahj Staveskie, who now plays for Canisius. "She was just a joyful kid to have around," Coakley said. This summer she's attending open gyms and working part-time at the Holiday Inn near Cedar Point. The goal is to secure a deal with a higher league. "I'm gonna work my way up," she said. "Hopefully I find a great country again. It's all about connections. "I really have to focus on working out basketball wise every single day to get better. It's gonna get harder next season." Wherever Jeffries lands, it's likely the former Sandusky standout won't be asked to shoot quite so much. But she'll draw on the lessons she learned in her first season as a pro. "They loved me. They would tell me, 'T, shoot.' I told them to set the screen hard, but if you're not gonna set it hard, don't do it because I'll get double-teamed. "They want me to come back. They try to communicate on IG. They told me I was their favorite American."