Prospect Spotlight: Emily Laham (2020)

Israel Potoczny

September 13, 2019 @ 03:51 PM

A rising senior at Maize, 2020 Emily Laham is coming off a strong offseason and is looking forward to putting together a big senior season. A 5’7 guard, Laham is an unselfish player who is always looking to make the right pass and find the open person. She can get to the basket and finish in the lane, but is also capable of settting up others for an easy look. She says she has worked on her outside shot and has become a more consistent outside shooter. Laham averaged seven points, four assists and two steals per game last season for a talented Maize team that went 18-4 before falling to Heights. “Our season last year went really well, we started playing better as a team towards the end and got a lot better,” Laham says. “We lost our last game to heights by one point. It was a very good game, and a close the whole time. Personally last year, as the season went on and everyone got better, my game did too. Started making more passes, got open more and made my shots more at the end.” Laham says several former Maize athletes has influenced her basketball career to date, including Division I athlete Halie Jones and current Evangel player Alexis Cauthon. “Both were great leaders on and off the court,” Laham says. “Alexis showed me how to love the game and be passionate, and Halie showed me to get through the situations and keep going.” Laham says she is a fan of Taylor Joplin of Western Nebraska and Ashton McCorey at Pittsburg State and has taken elements of both player’s game and made it her own. “Taylor is one heck of a shooter and player and I love watching her IQ of the game and seeing her make all those shots,” she says. “Ashton was my assistant coach throughout the summer, and also showed me the love for the game and to go hard in every situation. Ashton was hurt last year, but knowing her even in high school she played hard every second. “Ashton would always get on me and would toughen me up, so her doing that for me started showing and I got a lot more into the game. I played with both of them my freshman going into sophomore year so playing with them and seeing how committed to the game and how much they love it is what made me love it.” Laham currently holds offers from Tabor, Pratt, Western Nebraska and Bethany. “I’ve heard from a lot of colleges and am still getting emails and camp invite but we will see what the year brings,” Laham says.