Walk-on sophomore guard Hannah Shores has proved that she can perform the same, if not better than recruited athletes.

Shores is a newcomer to the Saluki team, playing her first year at SIU. She is the first women’s basketball player to walk on since 2009.

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As a freshman at Centralia High School, Shores was named Honorable Mention All-Conference. During the next three years she earned First-Team All-Conference and also was named Honorable Mention All-State her senior year. Shores also marked her name in CHS history by ranking fifth in school history in scoring.

Shores said playing at CHS gave her not only a lot of experience but also a great work ethic. As Shores was playing high school basketball, she also played on the Illinois Crush, an Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) that prides itself on its national rankings.

Prior to SIU, Shores attended Arizona State University and worked as a student manager for ASU. Although she enjoyed her time as a Sun Devil, she wanted to be closer to home.

During the summer, Shores came to SIU to talk to the coaches about playing as a Saluki. Although the coaching staff told her they did not need another guard, Shores still decided to try out after seeing a flyer on a bulletin board near one of her classes.

After not playing basketball at ASU for two years, Shores said she was out of shape during tryouts.

“I dropped the ball a few times and was not in shape like I should’ve been,” she said. “But I still knew all of the fundamentals of the game because I was always playing in different places, I just wasn’t on a college team.”

As a Saluki, Shores averages six points a game and has shot 45.5 percent from behind the arc in the six games SIU has played this season.

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The 5-foot-7 guard has showed that she has what it takes. Shores brings not only offense, but exceptional defense as well.

Junior guard Cartaesha Macklin said Shores fits right in with the Salukis.

“Mentally, she is one of the toughest girls on the team,” Macklin said. “I like her, she’s very social and mixes well with our team.”

When Shores first began practicing with the women’s team, Macklin said she started to notice Shores was not the type of player who was only going to start and end practice at the scheduled time.

“We knew she was one of those people that was going to work hard every time,” Macklin said. “There were even times where she was in the gym before us and even stayed late, in the weight room and on the court.”

The women’s basketball team is very close and even spends time together outside of practices and games. Coach Cindy Stein said they are all a family.

Stein saw something special in Shores. Shores is very versatile and can fulfill what coaches want their guards to do, Stein said.

“There are certain ingredients that you look for in players and Hannah Shores brings all of that,” Stein said. “One of the things that I was most impressed with was that she didn’t back down from anybody.”

Stein said Shores is a player you can count on to deliver both offensively and defensively. She has played Shores more than 15 minutes in each game; her 27 minutes against the University of Central Arkansas was the most she has played all season.

“She has a high basketball IQ, a strong work ethic, a good shot and can handle the ball,” Stein said. “We were needing that in the guard spot and she was everything that we were looking for.”

The Salukis captured their first win Monday evening against the Central Arkansas Sugar Bears. Shores said the first win was a great feeling and she feels everyone is finally coming together on the court.

“It was so much fun because we just clicked during that game,” Shores said. “We all got it all at once and stayed together without getting down on ourselves.”

The Saluki hopes to continue to perform well and contribute to her team.

SIU will finally catch a break from playing on the road as they play their third home game of the season on Dec. 16 against Eastern Illinois University.