Scarlet and Game
Fansided

Tanaya Beacham looks ahead to lone year at Ohio State

By Charles Post

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MARCH 08: Kaila Charles #5 of the Maryland Terrapins boxes out against Dorka Juhasz #14 of the Ohio State Buckeyes during the Championship game of Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on March 8, 2020 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by G Fiume/Maryland Terrapins/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MARCH 08: Kaila Charles #5 of the Maryland Terrapins boxes out against Dorka Juhasz #14 of the Ohio State Buckeyes during the Championship game of Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on March 8, 2020 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by G Fiume/Maryland Terrapins/Getty Images) /
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Tanaya Beacham is just 11 days away from the beginning of her first and only season with the Ohio State women’s basketball program. Beacham is a graduate transfer as she comes from the University of Toledo, where she played in 95 games over three seasons and averaged 6.0 points and 3.5 rebounds per game.

“For my last year of college, I wanted to get a chance to explore other opportunities and I felt Ohio State was a great place for me to finish my college career to mold myself for the next level,” Beacham told me. “I just worked so hard in the offseason to get playing opportunities and I just took advantage of the time I got.”

The former 3-star recruit attended Toledo Rogers High School before joining Toledo in 2016. Beacham started 21 games during her Rockets career and made noticeable improvements in her scoring ability and aggressiveness last season. She finished with a career-high 10.8 points on 58.3% shooting from the field in 2019-20.

“Being a grad transfer, I have a lot of experience and I want to play a leadership role for my younger teammates. I want to make a statement with my team in the Big Ten,” she explained. “I want to show everybody who did not believe in me that I can hold my own in a bigger conference and I can’t wait to show so much more of my game.”

The 6’1 forward might have played her best basketball in the 2020 MAC Tournament as she averaged 14.5 points and 9.5 rebounds in two victories as a team captain. According to a Big Ten press release, the Buckeyes were picked to finish 5th in the conference behind the likes of Indiana, Maryland, Northwestern, and Michigan.

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Beacham also talked about how last season came to an abrupt ending: “I was in shock when they told us the season was over. You just never know when your last game will be and it can be over so quickly. Over quarantine, being in the house has been kind of weird for me. I worked on bettering myself and I worked on expanding my game to a higher level.”