Girls basketball preview: Teagan Colvin steps into the spotlight as Liberty chases another 2B title

Chris Colvin knew his Liberty girls basketball team that took home the State 2B title in 2020 was talented, but more important, they were experienced.

With leaders like Associated Press 2B player of the year Maisie Burnham graduating after the championship campaign, the Lancers were faced with the task of rebuilding from a nearly fresh slate.

“We had such a veteran group with three seniors starting and now we are almost the exact opposite with three sophomores, a junior and a senior,” Colvin said. “There is still a lot of learning and growing to do to try and get back to that level.”

Luckily for Liberty, Colvin – who is in his fifth year as the Lancers coach – had a key piece of the puzzle waiting in his own home.

Teagan Colvin, a 5-foot-7 sophomore point guard and the daughter of Chris, has taken the league by storm in her short high school career. In her truncated freshman campaign due to the coronavirus pandemic, Teagan averaged 21 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and three steals a game while being named to the All-Northeast 2B first team.

Her start to this season has been much of the same as the Lancers moved to 4-0 after a 55-25 victory at Davenport on Tuesday, a game in which Teagan totaled 23 points, eight rebounds, five steals, four assists and two blocks in just three quarters .

Opposing coaches aren’t the only ones taking note of her talent. ESPN lists Teagan as a three-star recruit with a 90 rating in its 2024 rankings.

“She can do just about everything, and the best thing about her is that she is constantly working,” Chris said. “She loves watching people that are better than her, she always likes to learn from the best college and pro players. And then she will go straight into the gym and try to emulate what she sees.

“She’s becoming much more than a scorer. She’s got great court vision and loves to spread the ball around to her teammates, and she loves to play defense.”

Although she still has the better part of three seasons of high school basketball remaining, Teagan has received more than a dozen collegiate offers, including Power Five programs Arkansas, Kansas, Penn State, Washington State and Utah.

“I don’t think about it at all. When the offers come in, they come in,” Teagan said. “I’m playing the same way every game, and if there’s someone at the game watching me it’s great and I’m very blessed, but I’m just trying to get better every day and see how far I can go.”

The basketball talent in the Colvin household doesn’t belong to only Teagan, though.

Teagan’s brother, Tayshawn Colvin, has become a star on the Liberty boys team, making Chris a proud coach and father.

“I started coaching both of them really young, so it’s been a great learning process on separating dad from coach,” Chris said. “In the beginning, there was a lot of coach carrying into dad time, but as the kids got older, we were able to create boundaries. When we are in the gym, I am ‘coach’ and they are treated the same as any other player, but when we step out, I am ‘dad’ and we don’t talk basketball.”

Still, the on-court competitiveness can turn into family tension for the siblings.

“(Teagan) is a phenomenal shooter that can create a ton of space to get her shot off,” Tayshawn said. “We don’t play 1-on-1 too much anymore since it always turned into some sort of fight, but I made sure she never beat me.”

The Lancers have set the expectation of returning to the State 2B tournament this year, but they know they have to keep improving if the trophy is going to remain at the Spangle high school for another year. Alongside Teagan, Liberty will look for senior guard Ava Budde to be an outside threat, along with league second-team guard Ellie Denny.

“Lifting the trophy is always the goal, but to do that we need to keep our defense strong and we need to peak at the right time,” Teagan said. “But I believe that this group, no matter how young we are, is talented enough to get the repeat.”