She’s only a sophomore, but Early County’s Makayla Timpson already is one of the state’s most coveted college prospects.
Following a freshman season that earned her an AJC Class AA all-state second-team selection, she continues to receive major Power 5 offers, including from Georgia, Georgia Tech, LSU, Ole Miss, Clemson and Florida State, among many others.
She named UConn, Clemson, Florida State, Alabama and Tennessee as schools she’s most interested in, and all but UConn have offered.
On Friday, members of Alabama’s coaching staff were on hand for the Lady Bobcats’ 73-47 victory against Thomasville in which Timpson tallied an unconventional triple double of 21 points on 10-of-16 shooting, 12 rebounds and 10 blocks to go with three steals. She’s averaging 18.1 points, nine rebounds, 5.1 blocks and 2.6 steals this season and has led the Lady Bobcats to a No. 7 ranking in Class AA.
At 6-foot-1, her height lends itself to the center position, where she’s logged most of her minutes in her high school career. But Early County coach Kimmie Graham allows her to bring the ball up and shoot 3-pointers, and she wants to play guard at the next level. Thus, her size and versatility stretch the floor and create matchup nightmares for opponents.
“Even the game officials from another division asked when we were playing again because they wanted to watch her play,” Graham said.
While Timpson is an exciting player to watch and stuffing the stat sheet on a nightly basis, Graham is not in awe. As Timpson’s coach, she’s still pushing her to improve in many areas of her still-developing game.
“She struggles bringing the ball down sometimes, and we’re working on her coordination,” Graham said. “She’s scoring, but she puts up a lot of shots. If she can make her layups, she’ll score 50 points a night, so we’re working really hard to score all of those baskets. Most of them are in the paint, down low.
A strength of Timpson’s that will help her, Graham said, is her willingness to learn. She’ll listen to criticism and work to correct mistakes.
“I try to make her mad, but she doesn’t get upset,” Graham said. “She just has a smile on her face. She’s young, so she struggles sometimes with what she’s supposed to be doing on the floor, but once you explain it, she’s going to perform. She’s a well-rounded player and she’s solid academically.”
Timpson, who has a 4.4 GPA, said not getting flustered, “just comes naturally to me.”
She’s already easing into a leadership role. Graham noticed her take a turn in that area during Early County’s 55-15 victory against Brooks County. In that game, Graham moved Timpson to the front end of the full court press and let her play point guard on offense. She responded with 19 points, 11 rebounds, 10 blocks and four steals.
“She was a different player, and that’s what we need going into the region playoffs,” Graham said.
The Lady Bobcats entered the week with a 19-3 record, 5-2 in Region 1, where No. 2 Fitzgerald (21-0, 6-0) resides. For them to have a shot at 1-AA’s No. 1 seed, Timpson will have to become even more of a leader on the floor.
“I’m growing into it,” she said. “It comes little-by-little, but I mostly lead by example.”
“She brings energy to the team, and the team feeds off of her,” Graham said. “They play well together. If she’s having a good game, they try to jump on the bandwagon.”
Although Timpson still has two seasons after this one to win a title, she believes the future is now.
“We can go to state if we put our mind to it,” she said.
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