Sophomore Shooter Becomes Shut-Down Defender
3/23/2018 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Juicy Landrum's classroom last year was the Ferrell Center floor, and she was getting schooled every day by the likes of Alexis Jones, Alexis Prince and Kristy Wallace.
"It was difficult," said Landrum, a 5-9 sophomore guard from nearby La Vega High School. "Going to practice every day and having to guard one of the best point guards in college basketball. They kept telling me, `Don't get down on yourself.' I guess it helped me become who I am right now."
From those rather humble beginnings, who she's become is arguably the best perimeter defender for a second-seeded Baylor Lady Bear team (33-1) that will play sixth-seeded Oregon State (25-7) at 6 p.m. CDT Friday in a Sweet 16 matchup at Rupp Arena.
"As I told her the other day, Juicy has made a fool out of me as a coach," Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said. "Here's a kid that last year was beat up every day by Alexis Prince and Alexis Jones. Those were two fifth-year seniors, and here was this freshman straight out of high school, and her minutes were limited because of the depth we had at her position."
With a pair of WNBA draft picks in Jones and Prince, plus Wallace and Natalie Chou, Landrum was no better than the fifth backcourt option. Playing mainly mop-up minutes, she averaged just 1.8 points per game and hit 8-of-25 from 3-point range for a 33-4 team that lost in the Elite Eight for the fourth straight year.
"Her problem as a freshman was just learning defensive principles and learning passing lanes and learning help-side," Mulkey said. "And to watch her grow in that area and become really an all-around player, she's probably more confident on the perimeter than any player we have right now."
In last Sunday's second-round game at the Ferrell Center, Landrum hounded Michigan sharpshooter Katelyn Flaherty into 2-of-9 shooting in the second half of an 80-58 Lady Bear victory.
Once considered a defensive liability, Landrum said "it makes me feel good about myself to know that I'm progressing as a defender, maybe one of the best defenders we have. I take a lot of pride in that."
No one has ever questioned her shooting ability. A two-time pick as the Waco Tribune-Herald Super Centex Player of the Year, Juicy averaged 22.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 3.9 steals as a senior and led La Vega to three consecutive state tournaments.
As a sophomore, she averaged 17.2 points, 7.3 rebounds and 6.0 assists for a La Vega team that finished 35-0 and won the Class 4A state championship, capping that season with MVP honors at the state tournament.
"I matured a lot during that time," she said. "It helped me get ready for college."
Part of that maturation process also included her time with DFW Elite, an AAU select program that also produced Baylor All-Americans Brittney Griner and Odyssey Sims.
Porsha Roberts, Juicy's sister who now plays overseas in Italy, was part of the DFW Elite program before earning Southland Conference Player of the Year honors at Stephen F. Austin in 2015. The family ties got her an invitation, and that's where Juicy met her "sister," Baylor freshman point guard Alexis Morris.
"Me and Alexis, we used to head-to-head, playing against each other," said Landrum, who started out on age-group team that was a year older than Morris's squad. "One game, we played against each other and we were going head-to-head, and all I could hear was my parents and her parents going at each other. That's how we became so close, like her mom and my mom and me and her. She's like my sister."
With DFW Elite, she also played a year with Mississippi State All-American Teaira McCowan from Brenham, Texas, and played against 6-7 Baylor All-American Kalani Brown.
"It was fun, but at the same time we would drive to all these places, and we would have to sit there in the van for a couple hours at a time," she said.
Maybe it was that experience that helped her get ready for all the time she sat on the bench last year at Baylor. A Waco native who had grown up going to Baylor camps and sitting in the stands at games, Juicy initially wanted to go out of state for college, "but I took a visit to the school, and I just liked the vibe."
Even this season, she was little more than a novelty act, a 3-point threat and YouTube sensation with her seemingly effortless half-court shots.
"To me, it is a regular shot," said Landrum, who remembers taking half-court shots at the end of quarters during her high school games. "I guess I can shoot from anywhere on the court. It's not like I have to force it to go in. I just use the same technique I would if I was standing on the 3-point line."
Landrum's status changed from novelty act to the starting lineup on Feb. 3. With Chou undergoing surgery to repair a broken bone in her left wrist, Juicy started on the road at Texas Tech and hit her first eight shots in scoring a career-high 20 points.
"I don't typically get nervous. I'm just not a nervous type person," she said. "When Coach told me I was starting, I just knew I had to focus going into the game and do what I do best. I just had to go out there and take advantage of my opportunity."
In the last 13 games, Landrum has averaged 11.7 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.2 steals per game while knocking down 20-of-49 from 3-point range and 18-of-22 from the line.
"Juicy steps in like, `I told you I belong and you should have had me out here to begin with,' and she hasn't let up," Mulkey said. Juicy is just confident, shoots it from way out . . . she has the most consistent 3-point shot that we have, and she does it effortlessly from way out."
But, it's her defense that continues to amaze Mulkey. Landrum will be a key in containing an Oregon State team that ranks second nationally in 3-point shooting percentage (40.2) and features five players that have hit at least 30 treys.
"Her defense was what limited her last year, and that's not unexpected for a freshman," Mulkey said. "She just needed to learn angles, passing lanes, help-side and things like that, and now it's very comfortable for her.
"It's like driving to work. If you move to a new city, you have to use that GPS and concentrate on where you're going every day. And then when you've been doing it for a long period of time, you don't think about it anymore. I think that's where Juicy is now in her development as a player for us."
Top-seeded and third-ranked Louisville (34-2) faces fourth-seeded and 15th-ranked Stanford (24-10) in Friday's other region semifinal, which will begin approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of the Baylor-Oregon State game. Friday's winners meet in Sunday's 11 a.m. CDT region final for a trip to the Final Four in Columbus, Ohio.
NOTES: Mulkey was named WBCA Regional Coach of the Year and one of 10 finalists for the U.S. Marine Corps/WBCA Coach of the Year. In her 18th year at the helm, Mulkey has led the Lady Bears to the second-best record in program history (33-1), a sweep of the Big 12 regular-season and tournament titles and their 10th consecutive Sweet 16 appearance. . . . Baylor's Kalani Brown, Lauren Cox and Kristy Wallace were selected to the WBCA all-region team on Thursday and three of 54 candidates for the All-America team. Wallace averaged 12.9 points, 5.3 assists and 5.0 rebounds before suffering a season-ending ACL injury in the Lady Bears' regular-season finale. The WBCA All-America team will be announced next Thursday, March 29, at the WBCA Convention in Columbus, Ohio.
DID YOU KNOW?
The daughter of Calvin Landrum and Dondala Sutton, Juicy's given name is Calveion Landrum. But, she has gone by Juicy basically since birth. "My mom said I was a chubby little baby and used to waddle around. So, they started calling me Juicy."
TIP-OFF CLUB: Take the next step in supporting coach Kim Mulkey and the Baylor Lady Bears by joining the Tip-Off Club. Members receive exclusive access and benefits, including pre-game scouting reports for designated home games and invitations to TOC luncheons and post-game events. You can join the Tip-Off Club online at https://www.baylor.edu/bearfoundation/index.php?id=97893.
