'It never crossed my mind to leave'

Kansas City, Missouri — For two years, Kansas guard Wyvette Mayberry spent time playing with upperclassmen Holly Kersgieter, Zakiyah Franklin and Taiyanna Jackson while helping lead the KU women’s basketball team.

So, with that trio of fifth-year seniors departing after last year’s run to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, it would have made at least some sense for Mayberry to consider moving on, too.

But the veteran guard from Tulsa, who is now set to enter her fifth season of college basketball said the thought never crossed her mind.

“Whenever we say, ‘Family’ (during practice breakdowns), I feel like that’s actually something that we live by and it’s part of our culture,” Mayberry told R1S1 Sports during Big 12 media days at T-Mobile Center on Tuesday. “I mean, I love our coaching staff, I love my teammates, I just love Lawrence in general. The people there are incredible. The support we have is incredible. It never crossed my mind to leave.”

So, she didn’t. And now she’s back. Ready for one last ride with a talented team made up of a mix of veterans and newcomers and everything in between.

Like Kersgieter the year before her, Mayberry did participate in KU’s Senior Day festivities last spring. But she said that was as much to bring an end to one era as she prepared to enter another. It was never about her even considering being done at Kansas.

After all, she has big plans for this season and her role in it. And she said those thoughts played over and over in her mind as the 2023-24 season came to a close and she started to look ahead to the future.

“I knew I wanted to showcase some leadership skills,” she said. “Having three fifth-year seniors last year, that was their role. So, to be able to step into that role for us this year and also to just do something a little different, that really excited me.”

"He really stressed to me the importance of me coming back, how much I mean to the program and to the team, which is always good to hear." — Wyvette Mayberry on KU coach Brandon Schneider

KU coach Brandon Schneider was never worried about Mayberry’s intentions in large part because she always kept him in the loop about what she was thinking.

“Wyvette was really up-front the entire time,” Schneider said Tuesday.

The only thing he asked of her was that if she was going to leave that she let him know sooner rather than later so he could go out and find her replacement.

It never came to that, of course. And both Schneider and Mayberry are thrilled about that as the Jayhawks sit on the brink of starting another season with hopes of extending their postseason streak to four consecutive seasons.

“I (coached) against her sisters,” Schneider said. “And I was very familiar with the kind of man that her dad (former Arkansas star and current high school coach Lee Mayberry) was, as a player and in the business. It doesn’t surprise me that family is something that’s really important to Wyvette. Because when I think of the Mayberry family, I just think of a family you’d want to emulate.”

In addition to retaining Mayberry’s experience, scoring prowess, defensive intensity, passion for the game and desire to lead the younger Jayhawks, Schneider pointed to one other key aspect of her return.

“It’s such an asset to S’Mya,” Schneider said of preseason all-Big 12 sophomore S’Mya Nichols, who grew close with Mayberry last season. “It would’ve been really hard for S’Mya to come back as a sophomore and be the lone returning starter.”

Now, she has a sidekick. And although they’re no longer roommates, the fact that they spent last year living together and playing similar roles together for a veteran Kansas team helped forge a strong bond. The expectation is for that to pay off big time for the 2024-25 Jayhawks in ways well beyond the stat sheet and win column.

“They really know how to play off of one another,” Schneider said. “Wyvette knows what she has in S’Mya and S’Mya knows what she has in Wyvette, and they’re both gonna show up every day and bring certain characteristics to our team.”

Such as?

According to Mayberry, that was a part of her conversation with Schneider when the two talked about her return for one more super-senior season.

He challenged her to be a leader. He encouraged her to go first in drills and show the newcomers the way. He told her to up her communication and continue to bring great energy.

In short, he basically told her to keep being her and don’t hold anything back.

“He really stressed to me the importance of me coming back, how much I mean to the program and to the team, which is always good to hear,” Mayberry said. “I’m just really excited about this season.”