Not So Shy

Maryland women’s basketball’s newest star isn’t as shy as her name might suggest. 

Shyanne Sellers, who goes by Shy, is the latest freshman to step onto Gary Williams Court at XFINITY Center and become an instant difference-maker for head coach Brenda Frese. Sellers scored in double figures in her first five games as a Terp and showed the Maryland faithful why Frese made her recruitment a top priority.

Despite her quiet demeanor and unassuming sports goggles, Shy is one of the most extroverted members of the team. Her personality is infectious and has quickly become a very welcome addition to an already stout Maryland team. 

“I'm a very energetic, goofy person,” Shy said. “I come off as kind of closed off a little bit until I get to know you and then I'm really outgoing. I'm just an energetic person.”

Shy has settled into a key role as a secondary ball-handler and point guard to the second unit, becoming the steady hand that Frese needs when first team All-Big Ten guard Ashley Owusu needs a rest or plays off the ball. 

Frese knew how good Sellers was when she recruited the four-star guard out of Ohio, and she’s ecstatic to see it play out this early in her career. 

“She’s just building really good, consistent habits,” Frese said. “She doesn’t have to do as much but she wants the big moment … She’s competitive. She has a high motor, high energy. She belongs, and I think that’s the biggest compliment you can give.”

Shy had no shortage of opportunity to get into the game of basketball as her father, Brad, played collegiately at Wisconsin and Ohio State before being drafted ninth overall in the 1986 NBA Draft by the Chicago Bulls. 

The 7-foot-0 wing player would enjoy a 13-year NBA career that included several stops overseas before returning home to Ohio where he became a TV analyst for the Cleveland Cavaliers and then eventually the mayor of Warrensville Heights, Ohio. 

Despite her father’s vast successes, Shy wasn’t sure if she wanted her dad to be too hands-on with her athletics. Even though he was a star himself, she just wanted him to be her dad. That’s why it may come as a surprise to many that it was Shy’s mother, Kym, who turned her onto the game of basketball.

“My mom was a really heavy basketball person,” Shy said. “She was the one that signed me up for rec. You had to be to play at a certain age, and I was not that age. She still signed me up.”

Shy wasn’t alone in her game as her three older sisters also played basketball growing up. Sydney, Syarra, and Shayla Sellers were all prominent players in their town. Syarra went on to play at Thomas Moore University in Kentucky, and Shayla played at Purdue Fort Wayne in Indiana. 

While she loves her sisters and their styles of play, Shy knew she wanted to be different and knew that she had the tools to be special. 

“I took some pieces from each of my sisters’ styles of play and kind of created my own. I play very unorthodoxly. A lot of point guards aren’t 6-foot-2. A lot of girls can’t handle the ball at 6-foot-2. I kind of just play my way, and you know, that kind of positively affected me, and I just took what they gave me in their knowledge and put it into my game.”

Being the youngest in the family is a different kind of exposure to life because you have the experiences of your older siblings to learn from, and your parents have years of parental experience to help guide you.

But for Shy, her being the youngest isn’t what shaped her outlook on life. 

In 1992, Kym Sellers was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and while it changed certain things for the Sellers family, they never let it impact their lives. 

Kym was a radio host for the popular Quiet Storm on 93.1FM WZAK – Cleveland’s R&B Leader. Kym was an industry leader, becoming one of the most well-known media personalities in northwest Ohio. She was also named the Phenomenal Woman of the Year award, the Otis Moss Jr. University Hospitals Medical Center Faith and Vision award, and the YWCA Woman of Achievement. 

Kym doesn’t let MS impact her life, despite the physical limitations it can have on her. Shy sees her mother as an inspiration not just to herself, but to everyone going through any sort of problem. 

“It's what I've known my entire life, so I kind of just take it as positive,” Shy said. “She's still able to have fun with us and be our mom. She's turned it into a positive, and it's fun to see her just making the most out of everything. People could take it two ways, and she tried to take the higher route.”

One of the avenues Kym has taken is to become an advocate for MS and to use her local celebrity status as a beacon of hope for those who need it. That is why she started the Kym Sellers Foundation (KSF), which “provides outreach, awareness, and education to individuals with MS and their families, to sustain a quality of life commensurate with their potential.” 

Being far from home in the state of Maryland could have been a difficult transition, but Shy’s has been made easier because of the culture that Frese and her staff have set. 

The Sellers family most recently made the trip down to the Bahamas for the Baha Mar Hoops Championship over Thanksgiving, and Kym was her usual, charismatic self. She’s an inspiration to Shy and to people battling MS all over Ohio, and to honor her, Shy has decided to create a permanent reminder.

“Me and all my siblings have this one tattoo on us. It's her quote for her organization says ‘living strong, fighting long, till MS is gone,’” Shy said. “We all have that on our bodies. It just kind of reminds us that there are people that are going through it worse than you are. You can do it. You can make it out. Just to try to stay positive.”