The 84-by-50-foot basketball court is her comfort zone. An unstoppable force below the basket, off the court the forward Krystal Mays is shy in the company of the unfamiliar.

After she established her home under the rim, Mays developed the aggressive style of play required to bang bodies on the most physical part of the court.

“She’s a great leader, hard worker and we can all learn from her,” said Gator guard Jesscia Hout-Freeman.

Mays currently leads her team with 12.6 points per game, 7.4 rebounds per game and 2.7 fouls per game. She is 12th in the CCAA in scoring, fifth in rebounds, eighth in field goal percentage, and sixth in steals.

After SF State beat Cal State San Bernardino and Cal Poly Pomona, Mays was named the CCAA Wilson Player of the Week for the second time in her career at SF State. She scored 35 points and pulled down 21 rebounds on the weekend.

During the Cal State San Bernardino game, head coach Joaquin Wallace said Mays willed the Gators to win that game.

“She put us on her back and carried us. When she wants to, she’ll carry you,” Wallace said

When all is said and done Mays will be an SF State Hall of Fame player, Wallace said.

The junior forward’s motivation to play hard each game to get to playoffs comes from the fact that she doesn’t want to be sitting at home in March.

Another motivation is seeing David Van Someren from the men’s basketball team tear both anterior cruciate ligaments. Mays knows her career could be over in a snap. She never wants to regret not being the aggressive player that she is.

“I stopped taking things for granted,” Mays said. “I’ve learned that it can all be over in one day, and that’s my motivation to play. That’s why I play hard right now.”

Mays was already recruited before Wallace took over the women’s basketball team at SF State. The coach would have Mays call him after every one of her high school games to talk about the game.
“It was like pulling teeth,” Wallace said, because she is so shy.

Both Wallace and Mays have been here from day one and have walked the line together.

“We have a bond and it’s unlike any other kid,” Wallace said. “She’s like my daughter, too, and I’ve treated her like one of my own, but I’ve [also] demanded like she’s one of my own.”

Hout-Freeman said the coach sees the players as his children, and one big family, but Mays is like his first-born.

Mays has come a long way from her freshman year at SF State.

“She’s adding a different element to her game each year,” said Wallace, adding that the junior handles clean shooting from the perimeter now.

Mays was recruited as freshman by the former women’s basketball coach, Cristo Ortega, but there was a change in coaches before Mays even stepped foot on the Swamp.

Mays father had to put trust into Wallace’s coaching philosophy for four years.

“I’ve always embraced her as my own, because her dad and family trusted me,” said the head coach, who has three daughters of his own.

Mays, a business major, realized during her 11th grade high school English class that her strength was math and knew she would be a business major. She is on the track to graduate next May.

Don’t mistake this athlete for a jock, because she has goals to be an accountant.

After she graduates from SF State the forward wants to play overseas and travel the world. If she could pick any place to play, she said it would be Italy.

“It would be awesome to get out of the country and explore,” said the junior athlete.

The Gators’ captain had her sights on basketball since the age of 5 or 6 because she wanted to play basketball just like her father.

Not only is her father the reason she plays the game, but also she thinks of him as a mentor and someone she can count on.

“He’s always giving words of encouragement to me,” Mays said. “He gives me a game plan since he knows the game.”

“It’s her peace away from everything else that’s going on,” her father said of his daughter stepping on the court.

“It’s a team game and she couldn’t do it without her team,” said the elder Mays. Her father also said he is proud that his daughter’s Player of the Week award came after wins unlike last season’s award.

Mays has come from the bottom to now having the opportunity to make it to playoffs. But the athlete couldn’t do it without her team, said her coach and dad.

“With a coach like Wallace and players who believe in themselves it makes it easier,” Mays said.
Her teammates think very highly of the star forward.

“She’s one of the best in the league,” Hout-Freeman said. “She’s up there with the top dogs.”