Three years ago, current UMES guard and WSSU transfer Ketron Shaw was an underrecruited player with no Division I offers — HBCU programs included.
Today, the Maryland Eastern Shore guard, who goes by “KC” is tied for fourth in scoring in Division I basketball.
Shaw put up a career-high 30 points in UMES’s 73-71 loss against Old Dominion. The 6’5 junior from Charlotte hit 10 of his 19 field goal attempts and went 9-for-10 from the free throw line in the close loss to the traditionally solid mid-major program.
“KC (Shaw) continues to be efficient and consistent,” UMES head coach Cleo Hill Jr. said after the game. “I thought he was extremely explosive early on in the game. He works on his craft everyday and I am just happy he followed me to UMES.”
Indeed, Shaw followed Hill Jr., to the Division I HBCU after spending the first two seasons of his career with him at Winston-Salem State University.
The Charlotte native was a late fined for Hill and his staff. He spent his senior season at Mooresville High School under head coach Arnad Moore, a WSSU alumnus. Shaw received a few Division I looks but no offers well into his senior season as Division II schools — including CIAA schools — began offering him. He was still available after the season and Hill brought him to WSSU.
He joined a roster that featured Division I transfers in Jaylen Alston and (NC State) Jaylon Gibson as well as current Division I guards Samage Teel (Indiana State) and Issac Parson (NC Central). Shaw found his way into the rotation from Day One, helping WSSU win the 2023 CIAA title while averaging less than five points per game and scoring in double-figures just once.
Shaw took on a bigger role in the 2023-2024 season, averaging just under 11 points per game as the third option behind Alston and Parsons. He showed flashes of scoring ability in the second half of the season, hitting all six field goal attempts at the NBA HBCU Classic against Virginia Union and scoring a then-career high 21 points against Shaw University a few nights later.
Hill and WSSU would fall short in the CIAA Tournament opener, and Shaw looked like he would be ready to contend for CIAA Player of The Year — if he wasn’t scooped up by a D1 school. His brother, Kyrell, committed to WSSU as well and it looked like he would get a shot at redemption this season. However, two months after season, Hill was hired as UMES’s head coach and Shaw announced his decision to hit the transfer portal and ultimately follow his coach.
Now a building block for what Hill hopes to accomplish at one of the toughest jobs in not only HBCU but Division I basketball, Shaw has not disappointed.
He scored a career-high 23 points in the season opener against Vanderbilt. That is now his season low. He’s shooting a super-efficient 52.4 percent from the field and an equally impressive 44.8 percent from the 3-point line. He’s also shown off an elite-level mid-range game to go along with the athleticism that has always been there as UMES has challenged teams like Penn, Miami (OH) and ODU.
Ketron Shaw and UMES have a long season ahead, but he has shown he can score against quality competition in his new leadership role. The climb to the top of the MEAC is expected to be a steep one for a UMES program that hasn’t sniffed a conference title in 50 years, but don’t underestimate Hill and Shaw.