By Dave Johnson
W&M Athletics

WILLIAMSBURG, Va.-- When Jana "Tika" Sallman first set foot on William & Mary's campus last August, she was already behind. Her basketball teammates had been working together for weeks while she was playing for her national team in Egypt.

Which meant Sallman, a 6-foot-3 sophomore, would have to catch up quickly. She did, and the Tribe has an interior scorer and rebounding machine.

"It's been a rocky, tough road for her starting at the beginning to where she is right now," W&M coach Erin Dickerson Davis said. "She came in later, she's learning a new system, she's a transfer … I think that creates a lot of adversity, right?

"We really pushed her, and that's because we really believe in her. I didn't want all of this talent and basketball IQ to go to waste. She was going to get to this point come hell or high water. And she never quit."

Sallman, a transfer from Memphis, went from playing a combined six minutes in the Tribe's first three games to starting last Friday night against Hampton. She responded with 20 points, 17 rebounds and three blocked shots. The last Tribe player to match the points-rebounds combo was Abby Rendle in November 2017.

Chances are, Rendle had a more productive first quarter than Sallman did against HU. Admittedly a little overwhelmed by the moment, she went 0-for-4 with a turnover before being subbed out after 3½ minutes.

All of her points, along with 16 of her 17 rebounds and each of her three blocked shots, came in the final three quarters.

"I always used to come off the bench, so I could watch and see the (opposing) team even though I knew the scout," Sallman said. "I could see how the post was moving and what was happening. Then I could adjust to what is happening in front of me.

"This was my first time starting, so I was a little bit nervous. I mean, a lot nervous. I just had to adjust to the game."

As the rebounds piled up, Sallman grew curious.

"I asked one of my coaches, 'How many rebounds do I have?'" said Sallman, whose previous career high of 10 came in her freshman year at Memphis. "And she wouldn't tell me.

"She just said, 'Keep getting rebounds, I'll tell you after the game.' I wanted to know really bad, but I just kept grabbing rebounds."

Sallman was born and raised in Cairo, where she grew up speaking Arabic and became fluent in French and English. Her father, Tarek Sallman, played at the national and club level as a 6-6 wing. He's currently a board member with the Egyptian Basketball Federation.

Tika (pronounced TEE-kuh and a variation of Tarek's nickname of Tito) began playing with the national team in 2020. Hoping to expand her game, Sallman came to the U.S. to play her senior year of high school at Western Reserve Academy in Hudson, Ohio.

After averaging 11 points and nearly 10 rebounds a game, Sallman signed with Memphis of the American Athletic Conference. She played in 15 games, but her time faded in the second half of the season.

"Memphis wasn't the right fit for me," she said. "I was looking for somewhere I could fit in and I could perform. When I visited William & Mary, all the coaches believed I could fit right in. Everybody was really welcoming.

"Looking at the roster, I didn't really find any height. Last year, they were missing in rebounding, and I thought I would be an impact on this team with my scoring ability and rebounding. I thought I could come and fit right in."

And so she has.

"I love playing with Tika," Tribe forward Kayla Rolph said. "I can just turn around, pass it to her, and I know she's going to get a bucket.

"Her height and her strength really help us. You could see that on the boards and dealing with the bigs on the other team. It's a joy to play with Tika."