‘Shy’ Day-Wilson reflects on her path from troubled Toronto kid to Hurricanes guard
When Shayeann Day-Wilson was a little girl growing up in Toronto, helping her mother groom horses at Woodbine Racetrack, taking dance classes and getting in trouble in school, she never imagined she would wind up in Miami, playing basketball for the 24th-ranked Hurricanes.
As the UM point guard and her teammates, undefeated at 8-0, prepare to face 10th-ranked Baylor (7-0) on Saturday in San Antonio in the Hall of Fame Series, Day-Wilson reflected on her circuitous journey.
“Shy,” as Day-Wilson is nicknamed, grew up with her mother, Rose Day, her brother, Collin, and sisters Zakayla and Akayla in a low-income neighborhood known as Falstaff and Jane, an area plagued with gangs, drugs and violence.
She took dance classes with her sisters at the Falstaff Community Centre, which was across the street from her house, but a family friend, Patrick Shaw, suggested she give basketball a try because he felt it would help her release some of the boundless energy that was getting her in trouble in the classroom.
“I was a troublesome kid, I was getting in trouble a lot in school, and I was kind of antsy and jittery,” Day-Wilson said. “None of the girls I knew played basketball. But Patrick thought it would be good for me, and he was right. Basketball calmed me down.
“The moment I picked up a basketball and started playing, it changed my life forever. It took me places I never knew it would take me.”
She initially played with boys’ teams and said that helped her develop the mental and physical toughness she still relies on today, but when she was 12 or 13, parents began complaining that a girl was getting more playing time than their sons. Shaw, recognizing Day-Wilson’s potential and determined to introduce more girls to the sport, started a girls AAU team called “Sisters Keepers.”
“It started with just me, then my two sisters joined and some of our friends,” Day-Wilson said. “Most of the girls had never played basketball before and weren’t very good. But Patrick turned us into a good team.”
Before long, they had a following on social media and were raising eyebrows on the AAU circuit. Day-Wilson and several other girls on the team were offered scholarships to Crestwood Prep high school. One of her teammates there was Latasha Lattimore, whom she reunited with at UM.
Crestview won back-to-back Ontario Scholastic Basketball Association (OSBA) High School Championships.
Day-Wilson and Lattimore initially committed to play at Syracuse University, but changed their minds after the coach who recruited them, Quentin Hillsman, resigned amid an investigation into inappropriate behavior. Lattimore went to Texas and Day-Wilson chose Duke, where she was named ACC Freshman of the Year after leading the Blue Devils in points, assists, steals, field goals and free throws made.
She also excelled for Team Canada. In August, 2021 she led Canada to a fifth-place finish at the FIBA U19 Women’s World Cup in Hungary. She ranked second in scoring in the tournament with 18.1 points per game.
A year later, she led the Canadian U23 Women’s National Team to a gold medal at the inaugural GLOBLJAM international basketball showcase. She had 19 points, nine assists, two rebounds and two steals in the championship game. Among her teammates were UM players Lattimore and Lashae Dwyer.
“There’s no better feeling than representing your country and I am honored every time I wear the Canadian jersey,” she said. “I hope to be playing in the Paris Olympics next summer.”
After her sophomore season at Duke, Day-Wilson decided to transfer.
“I just wanted to try something new,” she said of her decision to leave Duke. “A lot of girls I came in there with my freshman year left and the coach that was recruiting me, an assistant coach, ended up leaving, too, so it was a whole new team. I just felt the need to make a change.”
Lattimore had left Texas for Miami a year earlier and Day-Wilson followed suit. UM coach Katie Meier is delighted to have the Canadian trio of Lattimore, Day-Wilson and Dwyer as the team builds off its historic Elite Eight run last spring.
“We got to know Patrick a little bit with Latasha, so when Shayeann was in the portal, we were hoping we’d have a shot at her, too,” Meier said. “I was kind of surprised she was in the portal because she was so successful at Duke, Freshman Player of the Year in the ACC and all. But we are happy to have her.”
She joined the Hurricanes in mid-summer due to her national team commitment, and it took awhile for her to adapt. Meier said returning players Ja’Leah Williams, Jasmyne Roberts and Kyla Oldacre have been instrumental in integrating Day-Wilson and the other newcomers.
“She’s a point guard who likes to make sure she knows everyone’s game, so she sat back and almost overpassed at times early on,” Meier said. “That surprised me in a very pleasant way that she is here to win and didn’t care about scoring. She was trying to make her teammates trust her and figuring out where they wanted the ball, and trying to figure me out, so that’s taken a while.”
Day-Wilson began the season coming off the bench but stood out in a road win over then-No. 21 Mississippi State with 10 points and six assists in 22 minutes. She moved into the starting lineup the past two games and had 10 points with eight assists against NJIT and 12 points with two assists against DePaul.
“She’s very composed, very competent and a massive competitor,” Meier said. “The team will feed on that, for sure.”
Day-Wilson credits her mother, who learned to love basketball through the years, for keeping her grounded. From the days she took young Shy to the racetrack to help her groom horses to now, when the mother and daughter call each other almost daily, that bond remains strong.
She also thanks Shaw, whom she considers a father figure.
“He’s my main guy, the person I go to for everything,” she said. “He’s supported my journey and believed in me from Day One. He stays behind the scenes and if anything comes up and I need him, he’s there for me.”
Day-Wilson has never forgotten her roots. She wears No. 30 as a tribute to 30 Falstaff, her childhood address.
“I never imagined any of this could happen to me, it’s like a dream come true,” she said. “I had all the support from my community and without them, I wouldn’t be here.”
