Audenried’s Shayla Smith went from overlooked to the city’s most decorated high school hoops player

What Shayla Smith had just accomplished did not cross Kevin Slaughter’s mind until the fourth quarter, as his Audenried team made a run against Neumann Goretti. The stakes were high in the PIAA Class 4A semifinals. And after falling behind, Audenried’s coach was focused on the comeback attempt.

But when Slaughter looked at the scoreboard with about four minutes remaining — and realized that Smith had surpassed 30 points to become the city’s all-time scoring leader — he thought to himself, “Damn, she really broke that record.”

It took Smith a few days to fully embrace the milestone, since that March 22 loss ended her remarkable high school career. With some space, Smith said she now feels proud of herself for amassing 2,691 points, eclipsing Shawnetta Stewart’s girls’ record of 2,501 points set in 1996 and then Maureece Rice’s mark of 2,681 points achieved in 2003.

Yet Slaughter describes a much deeper legacy for Smith, that “she kicked the door in” while fueling Audenried’s turnaround to three-peat as Public League champion and becoming a campus icon. Teammate Nasiaah Russell was even more concise yet poignant, calling Smith “strong, motivating, and dependable.”

“She was that person — she still is the person — I look up to,” said Russell, a sophomore forward. “ … Even if it’s ‘Nasiaah, get it together.’ I feel like Shayla is more of a big sister than anybody else was on the court.”

Slaughter first became aware of Smith in 2021, when a longtime friend called and said, “I’ve got a kid for you” playing on an eighth-grade recreational team. So Slaughter sent an Audenried assistant coach to a practice, who returned with a declaration that “she’s going to change our program.” Slaughter then asked former Audenried standout Denijsha Wilson, who at the time was playing for South Carolina Upstate and was home for spring break, to give Smith a campus tour.

Wilson promised Smith that Slaughter would “let you get busy” while exploiting mismatches rather than playing within rigid sets, according to the coach. Then, the two players went out to the court at 20th and Tasker for a one-on-one matchup, and 13-year-old Smith hung with the 21-year-old Wilson.

“Slaughter, she’s going to be a pro,” the coach recalled Wilson telling him. “I’m telling you, I was playing serious.”

» READ MORE: Shayla Smith, the city’s all-time girls’ scoring leader, carves her name next to other Philly hoops greats

Still, becoming a high school scoring machine took significant behind-the-scenes work from Smith.

She played on a boys’ club team between her freshman and sophomore seasons, despite outside concerns that “they’re going to hurt her,” Slaughter said. Smith also spent time on the track and field team, running the 4x100 relay and the 200-meter dash. Her daily basketball workout routine included the repetition of hitting 500 jump shots. And to get into those attempts, she solely used moves — such as a crossover dribble from left to right for a layup, or a counter to then elevate into a shot — that she would execute during a game.

Her favorite? When she goes right baseline and fades away.

Smith began to rack up honors. She was the fastest player in Public League history to reach 1,000 career points, topping the legendary Dawn Staley. She became a two-time first-team all-state selection, and the Public League Player of the Year in 2023 and 2024.

But Slaughter did not look at where Smith ranked on the city’s all-time scoring list until this season, when he realized she had already totaled more than 1,800 career points. When she broke the girls’ record in February, it was more celebratory, because Audenried was on its way to a victory against Engineering and Science to advance to the Public League semifinals. Smith somehow did not reach the school’s single-game mark — her career-high 47 points are two shy of the girls’ record, and three short of the boys’ record, Slaughter said — which “let everybody know you were human,” the coach joked.

Smith poured in bucket after bucket while maintaining the chip on her shoulder that came with being overlooked as a top-100 recruit or McDonald’s All-American. She heard outsiders take swipes at the scoring record because she plays in the Public League. She signed in December with Penn State, with coach Carolyn Kieger saying in a release that Smith’s “tenacity on the court, three-level scoring, and relentless drive to improve make her the perfect fit for our program.”

And inside Audenried’s halls, Smith helped shape the culture. When a freshman football player asked Slaughter if he could persuade Smith to follow him back on social media, the coach brought her over for an in-person introduction instead. Coaches from other sports have told Slaughter that Smith has inspired their athletes to show up for 6 a.m. workouts, or to believe they can play high-level club ball. Smith’s highlights are all over TikTok, broadening her reach.

» READ MORE: Audenried’s Shayla Smith breaks city girls’ basketball career scoring record

That impact, though, has most been felt by Smith’s basketball teammates. Russell described the way she and Smith would “sing their hearts out” to Frank Ocean and Rod Wave in the van on their way to games. Or how, whenever Smith drills deep three-pointers “that I’ve never seen nobody else make,” Russell’s reaction is simply, “Dang, bro.” Or that if the 5-foot-10 Smith can play multiple positions, perhaps Russell could, too.

Slaughter added that the 6-3 Russell is garnering interest from more prominent college programs, because “coaches say, ‘We cannot miss out on this one.’”

“Being on the court with Shayla, all parts of the puzzle come together,” Russell added. “ … When you’re around somebody who has that type of title and that attention, it also [transfers] onto you. So I feel like it only gives everybody else an opportunity to be great themselves.”

Smith said she is most proud of her mentality shift throughout high school, that she is no longer visibly upset when she misses a shot.

She credits that maturation to watching YouTube videos of Kobe Bryant speeches in which he describes his meditative, in-the-moment “flow state” during games. Smith now admires a similar calm demeanor in USC superstar JuJu Watkins, saying, “She looks like how I want to play.” Smith believes she achieved that mental zone when she scored 42 points in a Dec. 30 game against Wilmington’s Ursuline Academy, and when she scored 21 of her 35 points in the second half of Audenried’s Public League title-game victory over Imhotep Charter.

“It’s the best feeling in the world, honestly,” Smith said.

Slaughter added that Smith has improved throughout her Audenried career at taking shots without unnecessary dribbles, such as when she posts up, turns, and immediately fires. Smith has also become a better passer, with the coach noting she can now grab a rebound and launch it down the floor before the defense gets set.

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Yet perhaps Slaughter is most impressed with how strongly Smith has stood in her Muslim faith, even as her profile grew. She told WHYY she eventually wants to become the first WNBA player to wear a hijab. Today, though, she represents a notable community that practices that religion within her school, including several international students.

And when Slaughter asked if she believed her high school career would be viewed differently if she did not wear the hijab, Smith did not flinch.

“She said, ‘I don’t even care. I have what I have, and this is what I’m supposed to have,’” Slaughter said. “ … She fears her God more than she fears what people may think.”

A Penn State hat accompanied her headscarf last week, a sign she is now “ready to go” to campus. She is looking forward to more freedom — including virtually unlimited gym access — that Slaughter believes will help her unlock her still-untapped potential. The coach believes Smith can still improve in quick transitioning from the offensive end of the floor to the defensive end, and in her crunch-time decision-making.

While she was being recruited by the Nittany Lions, though, coaches told Smith she could become a 2,000-point scorer.

“It just reminded me of the feeling when I came here,” Smith said while sitting inside Audenried’s library.

That does not seem outlandish, given what she achieved in high school. And whenever the next Philly player — of any gender — is inching closer to 2,691 points, they will see that the city’s all-time scoring record belongs to Shayla Smith.

“She always went above and beyond whenever the doubters came out,” Slaughter said. “ … The way she went out, it was known around town, ‘Yeah, she’s serious.’”