The University of Mississippi Athletics
Meet The Women's Hoops Freshmen: Tia Faleru
10/31/2011 | Women's Basketball
Oct. 31, 2011
OXFORD, Miss. - Freshman Tia Faleru started playing basketball at age 10 to follow in the footsteps of her mother, Shirley, who also played basketball in college.
"At first I just played to play but then I saw it kept me out of trouble since I was hard headed," Faleru said. "I wanted to follow in my mom's steps and play basketball. She played at community college back home called Enterprise-Ozark Community College and back when she played, it was big time."
Faleru, a native of Ozrak, Ala., said her mother will be able to come to a lot of Ole Miss' games this season and will be at the season opener on November 11.
"She will be at the first game this year and she's looking forward to it," Faleru said. "She always tells me what I'm doing wrong on the court. I can always hear her yelling from the stands how to box out and do this and that."
Faleru was the 5A State Player of the Year in 2010-11. She attended Carroll High School and helped lead the team to three consecutive winning seasons and team's first regional appearance as a senior.
Like many of her teammates, she chose Ole Miss because of the family atmosphere.
"I made a verbal commitment before I even took my official visit to Ole Miss," Faleru said. "I chose to come here from the way the coaches and players were talking on my visit. I felt like I'd known them forever just by talking to them. And when my mom came on the visit with me, she enjoyed it so much. It just felt like family how close the team is."
Faleru has high hopes for this season and said a personal goal she has for herself is to average a double-double. She loves that the coaching staff pushes her and her teammates.
"I liked the fact that our coaches want 100 percent out of us," Faleru said. "Some coaches don't care as much. The coaching staff and our team, we want to get it done. The chemistry is really good. Coach Ladner can be hard at times but I know she only wants the best for us and when she tells me something, I take what she's saying, run with it and correct what I'm doing wrong."
