One minute into the fourth quarter of a back-and-forth thriller with Notre Dame, Georgia guard Mikayla Coombs had eight steals. She sat down as Joni Taylor had a gut feeling that a big moment for third-year guard Chloe Chapman would follow.
Coombs didn’t sit down with confusion. She didn’t argue or seem upset. She needed some movie popcorn and a drink while getting a front-row seat. The show with Chapman at the lead guard was commencing.
“I talked to her before the game and said, ‘This is your time,’” Coombs said. “I was excited to watch it.”
Chapman entered while the Lady Bulldogs’ dependable spark plug, Coombs, became a spectator. Chapman fueled Georgia to a win over a legacy-laden Notre Dame program Nov. 26 in Daytona Beach, Fla. She did it all with a final line of 10 points and six rebounds that didn’t tell the entire story. Her jumpers came at game-shifting moments and were complemented by a few stifling defensive plays in transition that hindered the Fighting Irish’s offensive rhythm.
“She looked like Chloe of old,” her father, Erik Chapman said.
Her teammate Jenna Staiti said the Lady Bulldogs “don’t win without Chloe” in a marquee game, and the coaches echoed that sentiment. Not only that, but Chapman is a key cog in Georgia’s 7-0 start, which continued with a 66-56 win at Texas Tech on Thursday.
“I’ve wanted this really bad,” Chapman said. “Everything takes time and patience. I knew it would come soon.”
Chapman’s big day held more weight than the typical evolution story seen across sports because this result involved a major decision. Chapman came to Georgia as a two-sport star with elite talents on the soccer pitch and the basketball court. She had set out to play both sports throughout her career, but had to make a sacrifice to “chase a dream” of playing professional basketball, she said.
If a soccer ball and a basketball were placed in front of Chapman, she would pick up the orange rubber sphere each time, her father said. She’s now given 100 percent to her truest love, and it’s a choice that has bolstered the Lady Bulldogs through the season’s early stretch.
“She sacrificed a lot to come back to us (full-time),” Taylor said. “It’s for that moment.”
Credit: Chamberlain Smith
Credit: Chamberlain Smith
Making the call
Once Chapman arrived in Athens, Taylor gave a surprising verdict. Chapman wouldn’t split practice time within the two sports, but would instead work fully with former coach Billy Lesesne’s soccer team and then come to basketball once it ended.
Taylor referred to it as being “where your feet are,” and Chapman displays her gratitude to her coach two years after hearing those words.
“She never made me feel pressured,” Chapman said.
Chapman, in a reserve role, became one of the soccer program’s best players through a rebuilding stretch. She notched six goals as a freshman in 2019, and Lesesne called her contributions “a real gift.” She followed it with College Athlete of the Year honors by Atlanta Sports Awards in 2020 for playing both sports.
“She was always smiling and laughing and she brought a good energy to the team,” former Georgia soccer defender Kayla Bruster said. “She meant a lot to us as a program.”
Chapman loved soccer. Her extra work went into basketball and received a five-star prospect from ESPN. Erik said his daughter never attended a soccer camp or showcase if it interfered with basketball. His last memory of Chloe participating in an extra soccer event was as a 9-year-old. Chapman had done the overlap since the age of 5 when she began to play both sports, but it wasn’t the same at Georgia as it was through her childhood.
She missed the beginning of Georgia’s basketball season. She missed meaningful offseason practices and sessions of installing offensive and defensive schemes. Her minutes and results suffered, too, as a result. In 2020, Chapman played in only 14 basketball games for the Lady Bulldogs and only once scored more than four points.
“She was frustrated because she felt behind,” Staiti said. “It was amazing to watch her balance it, but not being fully here made it difficult.”
After the spring semester, Chapman returned home to Mitchellville, Md., and her family would go on frequent two- to four-mile walks around their residence. One day, Chapman brought it up to her parents and older sister, Sydney. She was ready to be a full-time basketball player.
She wanted more out of a basketball career, and that meant ending another pursuit.
“There was too much of an overlap,” Erik said. “If there was soccer in the spring, it would’ve been a much-easier transition.”
Benefits of a preseason
The previous two offseasons, the basketball program had Chapman available for summer workouts. Taylor would have to send her high-potential point guard away Aug. 1. Chapman wouldn’t return until after Thanksgiving.
All of that changed ahead of the 2021-22 season, and it all began to come together for Chapman. Taylor said her third-year ball-handler was “winging it” for two seasons, which she attributed to Chapman’s natural abilities, but now she has a firm grasp on what the Lady Bulldogs are doing.
Georgia didn’t ask Chapman to run a post position that involved a handful of concepts to understand. They pegged Chapman as their point guard of the future, which meant becoming an extension of Taylor on the floor. Chapman experienced the intricacies of defensive installation, the basic guard concepts of handling time, scores and offensive packages. None of which she learned at a deep level when playing both sports.
“It was an eye-opener for her on how much she needed to learn that she didn’t already know,” Taylor said.
Over the season’s opening quarter, especially through the past three games, the extra time in the gym has shown its fruit for Georgia. Chapman has shown off a lethal mid-range jumper, can give Que Morrison a quick break on guarding the opponent’s best player and playing along with the smothering defensive approach.
“It helped tremendously to have her here for the preseason,” Coombs said. “We already had our groove. It got really hard for her to pick everything up, and she did great with it by SEC play, but that’s when she’d come in. We established that chemistry from the jump now.”
From afar, Chapman’s biggest supporters have seen it, too. Her parents have weekly Zoom sessions with their daughter from Maryland. They’ll talk about a myriad of things, but Erik needs only to look at her face to see how basketball is going.
Happiness answers that question.
“An offseason was the biggest benefit,” Chapman said. “I feel more comfortable and more there with the team.”
‘Like very few I’ve seen’
Chapman played only six minutes in the win at Texas Tech after logging double-digit minutes in the previous six games. Georgia had found its rhythm with the starters, but Chapman’s seldom action proved vital to the Lady Bulldogs notching another win.
Bryn Gerlich threw a bullet pass toward Texas Tech star Vivian Gray, and Chapman swiped it in the lane. She had proved her worth as a defensive menace against Notre Dame and Marquette, but Chapman’s defensive talents are forcing Taylor to consistently give her late-game minutes.
The Lady Bulldogs always have raved over Chapman’s speed, and now it’s seen with steals, chase-down rebounds and hounding opposing guards.
“Her quickness, good Lord. She is so fast,” Taylor said. “Her speed and ability to pester the ball-handler and breakthrough screens (is a weapon). Her natural ability is like very few I’ve seen.”
Georgia is in the process of finding a lead guard. Three of them share the duties now with Chapman as a top reserve. She has featured all of the qualities of a point guard, and her teammates greatly favor playing alongside her rather than trying to score on her in practice.
Chapman has taken a step toward becoming the player Georgia envisioned as a freshman. Now as a full-time hooper, she had her moment. There’s already been an encore.
“I wanted more from my time at Georgia,” Chapman said. “Especially on the basketball end.”
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