Prospect Spotlight: Jayda Curry 2021

Corona Centennial should be a fun team to watch this season, and a big reason why is Jayda Curry. A junior guard, Curry was lighting it up all summer with West Coast Elite on the AAU circuit. She'll have her pick from multiple Division 1 schools. She currently holds offers from Fresno State, Hawaii, Long Beach State, Loyola Marymount, New Mexico, San Diego State, UC Santa Barbara, and UC San Diego. Although she'll still have another year of high school basketball left after this one, Curry is already sure of what she's going to be looking for when the time comes to choose where to play at the next level. "Just somewhere that I feel comfortable," Curry told Prep Hoops. "Somewhere I know I'm going to play because that's really important to me, to be able to compete at a high level. Really somewhere that feels like a second family, a second home where I can really fit in and do what I want to do." While playing with West Coast Elite in the offseason, Curry was teamed up with quite a few talented players who can score in their own right. She played alongside fellow Centennial teammate Trinity San Antonio, as well as Sierra Canyon's Ashley Chevalier, Oaks Christian's Taylor Donaldson, Long Beach Poly's Ashlee Lewis, and Etiwanda's Jessica Peterson. Curry was forced to fine-tune her game and mold herself into more of a facilitator. She's a natural scorer, but playing with so many other good players allowed her to ease into a playmaking role and get looks not only for herself but her teammates as well. "I think it helped me a lot. It opened up my eyes to being a true point guard," Curry said. "Playing with Ashley [Chevalier] and following her lead and aggressiveness, that really helped me out." Heading into her junior year, Curry has taken on the mantle of being one of the team's leaders on the court. She's embraced the role of being a veteran mentor of sorts to the younger players. Her younger sister Layla-Simone, a sophomore on the team, is one of those younger players. Curry believes that her leadership is just as strong as anything she can bring on the court skill-wise. "Right now, I would say not even skill-wise, but leadership-wise, that's my strength," Curry said. "I'm really focusing on helping the younger players on my team and things like that." Talented players are never satisfied with their work. They're constantly looking to expand their game and add new elements to make themselves as well-rounded a player as possible. Curry is no different. She's already an explosive scorer. She's a threat to score from anywhere on the court. If her shot isn't falling, she can put the ball on the floor and attack the rim. She's able to finish with contact or get herself to the free-throw line. But she's still looking to add to her ability to score. "Right now I'm working on my pull-up jumper a lot more just to expand the range of my game," Curry said. "I can shoot threes and get to the basket, but the pull-up game will definitely help for sure." And as her junior season is set to get underway, she's got her goals for this upcoming season. Centennial hasn't advanced very far in the CIF playoffs in recent years, and she's hoping to change that. "I want to win a CIF championship for sure. Last year and the year before, we got bounced pretty early. It's not the best feeling," Curry said. "Getting deep in the playoffs and hopefully winning a CIF championship and getting to state."