From humble beginnings in Louisiana, Desiree Waller was already making a name for herself on the basketball court. Collecting all-district and all-region honors in every season she spent at Thibodaux High School in Thibodaux, Louisiana.
Waller put herself out there for every area recruiter. She was contacted by Tulane, Southern Mississippi, Louisiana State, University of Houston, and even Texas A&M University-College Station throughout her time in high school. Luckily for Texas A&M University-Commerce, she ended up at a school just a bit closer to the Lions: Angelina Junior College in Lufkin, Texas.
“The Angelina Junior College coach came to watch me play one of my games, and that was one of the offers I got from out of state,” Waller said.
“I was like ‘well, it’s a Texas junior college, that’s a good enough step for me’. So I took a visit to Angelina, and I ended up liking it. The environment, the people, it was a different kind of experience. Every day life was just a different experience, so I liked that,” she said.
The two years spent in the great state of Texas and at Angelina were a blessing for Waller, as she continued to grow both as a player and a person.
“In those two years, I learned a lot,” Waller said.
“I learned how to speak a little bit better, I learned how to just be more respectful to people. Junior college was a big step from being good in high school to being good on another level. I was kind of thankful that in my transaction to college, I didn’t lose too much of my ability to play. To me, it got better in some ways,” she said.
One of the best memories from high school which sticks out to Waller is when she scored 31 points for Thibodaux High School against local rival and power house Ellender Memorial. Her team still lost, but it was the performance which made this game a positive one.
“We didn’t get the victory, we lost by six points, but the thing about that game that made me feel good was that we were able to hang with Ellender,” Waller said. “We were able to play with them and not get blown out. I dropped 31 points because I was just hot that night. I wasn’t missing.”
Her time spent at Thibodaux may not have brought all the trophies and team honors there were to win, but it was still important and special to Waller.
“In my two years at Thibodaux HS, we brought more excitement to the program,” Waller said. “We gave the fans a reason to come to the game, because we gave it all we had. We played together, we were disciplined, and we had respect for people off and on the court. It was just a good environment to come watch a group of girls play.”
Upon departing from Angelina, Waller decided to go back home; however, she did not feel like that was where she was supposed to be. She wanted to come back to Texas, and that is how she ended up in Commerce.
The jump from high school to junior college was a big one for Waller. Now, the step-up to a university is, to her, exactly what the doctor ordered.
“Coming from Angelina to Texas A&M-Commerce, I feel like this is where I’m fit to be at,” Waller said.
“Just to be around a group of girls that strive for the best just like me is a perfect piece. This is the piece of the puzzle that has been missing. I think coming here is my cup of tea,” she said.
Of course, with each step up to a different level of basketball comes a new challenge. One is more pressure on individual performance, especially on newcomers. Waller admits that strain is on her.
“At Angelina, I started out fresh with a whole bunch of freshman,” Waller said. “As a sophomore, I was going to be leaving the next year, so I was going to be a captain or a leader that you could go to in a game. Going from a junior college to another school, they have other people that are the ‘go-to guys’. Now it’s like I have to fight for a spot again. So, it’s a little bit of pressure, but with confidence, pressure is nothing. I just strive to be the greatest.”
The A&M-Commerce women’s basketball team is predicted to finish an impressive second in the Lone Star Conference this season. For Waller, however, this does not affect her mind set. She knows there is still hard work to do.
“I can’t say how we’re going to do, but I can just hope for the best,” Waller said. “I don’t want people to think we are a paper team, because we are a lot of talent on paper. I just want us to just use that talent, everything we’ve got. Whatever we’ve got that’s usable on the team, we’re going to strive to use all of that.”
Waller was also reluctant to say whether or not A&M-Commerce is ready to meet the challenge their high ranking presents. One thing that attracted Waller to A&M-Commerce is the feeling she had when being around her team mates. She says that once the team builds solid chemistry and performs well together, it’s certainly possible with the talent the Lions have.