University of Georgia Athletics
Freshman Maya Caldwell Transitions To College Life
September 29, 2017 | Women's Basketball
ATHENS, Ga. – In preparation for the Georgia Lady Bulldogs' 2017-18 campaign, freshman guard Maya Caldwell sat down with Georgiadogs.com to discuss her introduction to Athens, aspects of her game and her plans to start a non-profit organization after basketball.
How has the adjustment period gone so far here with UGA and Joni Taylor's program?
"So far, it's been a very smooth transition. I'm not gonna lie, I was a little nervous about getting settled in and staying caught up with the team on and off the court, but the coaches and the team push me, so it was pretty smooth and pretty easy."
What is the dynamic like already with the freshman class?
"We are probably one of the strongest freshman classes in the SEC right now. We're full of talent, full of confidence, humble, always have each others' back. I'm speechless because I'm so excited for where we're gonna take this."
How have you meshed with some of the upperclassmen as well?
"We're like one big, happy family. No one has any problems with anybody else on the team. We're one big family and we're all sisters here."
How has Athens been different from Charlotte? How has it been similar?
"I would say they're similar in a way. I feel at home, but that's mostly because of the team and not so much Athens itself, but I do feel at home."
What is one role that you feel you can contribute to the team in this year?
"That's a good question. I would say just support overall, on and off the court, always pushing my teammates to do their best."
What is one hobby or something you do that people don't know about you?
"I mean, I'm an open book, but if there's something that people don't really know about me it would probably be that I play piano a little bit. I used to play when I was younger, so I'm not as good as I used to be, but I like the piano. Every time I see one I'm over there banging on it."
What would you consider your greatest sports accomplishment?
"From fifth grade to my senior year of high school, I went to Davidson Day, which is a small private school. When I was in fifth grade, I was pretty much the only person who knew the fundamentals. People didn't even know what the out of bounds line was. Since sixth grade, I've always been one of the best players on the team, so that was a big leadership position for me and I feel like I carried that out throughout graduation. Went to three state championship appearances, some tournament conference championships, made all-state. There were a lot of successes within fifth to 12th grade."
Who is someone you like to model your game after?
"That's a good question. I usually think of myself as… well I don't think of myself as K.D. [Kevin Durant], but he's a really tall, long guard. I get that a lot and the first person I think of is K.D. so definitely him."
What was the experience like playing tennis in high school while also trying to compete at a high level in basketball?
"Tennis was fun. I miss tennis a lot. I joke about going over and playing with the UGA women's tennis team every now and then. It wasn't impossible juggling basketball, tennis, the books and then extra workouts to improve my ball-handling skills and my shots. It was tiring from time to time, but it became a routine and over time I became more consistent with it."
Were you more of a server or a volleyer?
"I loved to run up to the net and I like to volley, because I knew my length. If I could just hit where they were off-balance hitting it back, I could just slice it back and make 'em run. It was fun, it was a lot of fun."
What led you to major in Business and what do you want to do in that career field?
"First, I got into Terry College of Business, but when I was younger my family started a nonprofit organization called Children Empowering Children, also known as CEC. We did a lot of backpack drives, canned food drives, clothing drives for kids in Africa. I was young then, but after AAU started picking up we kind of put that on pause because we were never home to host the drives. While we weren't doing it, I realized that I missed it. I missed helping other people out and seeing people smile. So, I promised myself that when I get to college I'm gonna go major in business, do international affairs, learn a language and just expand on my knowledge in the business field so that when I get my degree or when I get my Master's, I'll be able to go back home and rebuild that whole organization and pick up where we left off."
What led you as an out-of-state recruit to come to Georgia?
"Besides the coaches and the team, like I said earlier Athens just felt like home. I told myself, 'If I didn't have basketball, where would I want to be?' Athens was the place."
