Shane Thomas | The Valdosta Daily TimesLowndes guard Taje Middleton is pictured with her friends, family and teammates after signing with Brewton-Parker College Wednesday in the LHS cafeteria.

VALDOSTA –– For the second time this summer, the Lowndes Vikettes are sending another standout to the next level.

Senior guard Taje Middleton signed with Brewton-Parker College on Wednesday. Middleton, a sweet-shooting left hander, averaged a team-high 11.3 points along with 3.3 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game this past season. 

Middleton is the latest Vikette to sign this summer after teammate Kiersten Graham signed with Coastal Alabama in May.

“It means a lot to me because I’ve come a long way,” Middleton said. “I didn’t give up. Coach (Antonia) Tookes didn’t give up on me. My mama didn’t give up on me. They all waited for me and helped me and Brewton-Parker just felt like home to me so that’s why I committed. … The coach, it felt like family already when I met him. The environment was good. I met one of the players there and her energy was good. Everything was just good. The visit was good. Everyone was good to me. Everyone treated me well. That’s why I felt like it was home.”

Led by Middleton, the Vikettes went 10-6 last season and finished third in Region 1-7A.

Middleton burst on the scene as a sophomore with the Vikettes, averaging 12.8 points and 1.7 steals per game in her first season on the varsity. As a scorer, Middleton has the ability to score at all three levels –– from the 3-point line, in the midrange and at the basket. Her combination of strength, ball-handling and aggression made her a focal point of defenses in her three years of varsity play.

In the past two seasons under Tookes, Middleton was asked to contribute more in other aspects of the game –– most notably, on the defensive end and on the backboards. Middleton scored in double-figures in 12 of the Vikettes’ 16 games this season, posting a season-high 19 points and six steals in an early-January game against Pierce County. Middleton also grabbed at least four rebounds in seven games this season, including a nine-rebound effort in the region tournament against rival Tift County.

“I told her that a complete guard is a scorer, a rebounder, an assist man –– they can do it all,” Tookes said of Middleton’s growth as a player. “If your game is off, your shooting is off, then you have to rely on something else. I said, so contribute to the team another way –– by rebounding, by playing good defense and stopping the other girl on that end of the court. She bought into doing that.”

The Lady Barons are heading into Year 6 under head coach Steve Edwards, the 2018-19 SSAC Women’s Basketball Co-Coach of the Year.

With Edwards leading the way, the Lady Barons have boasted five All-Conference selections and one All-American while winning back-to-back NCCAA South Region Championships in 2019 and 2020 and making an SSAC Tournament Semifinals appearance this past season.

According to Middleton, Edwards envisions her spending more time at the small forward position. Though she is admittedly undersized, Middleton sees herself as a player that can contribute positively no matter what position she’s asked to fill.

“I’m not that big, but I can run a little point guard and play on the wing,” Middleton said of her role at the college level. “I’m just looking forward to it. … On the court, you’ve got to know how to play every space. You’ve got to know how to play defense, how to score, how to get a rebound and I feel like I can contribute to all of that when I’m on the court. I just hope to get better at each and every spot and continue to develop my game.”

Tookes added, “At Brewton-Parker, she’s going to be a wing position. She can play (either guard position) at a high level. I would like to see her play point guard. She can shoot it from the wing, she’s a slasher so that’s an automatic position for her and she can shoot the 3, so she’ll do well at the 1, 2 or 3 at Brewton-Parker. … She’s been putting in the work since I’ve been here. If I go to the gym, I know I’ve got at least 15-20 points in my back pocket with Taje Middleton on the team.”

Over her three-year varsity career at Lowndes, Middleton scored a total of 734 points and made First Team All-Region all three years.

As she prepares to move up the road to Mount Vernon, Ga., to join the Lady Barons, Middleton reflects on the family ties she developed at Lowndes.

“Lowndes has meant a lot to me –– I’ve been a Viking since second grade, so this is family. Valdosta is family,” Middleton said. “I’m originally from South Carolina. This is really all I know. I was raised here so being a Viking was always awesome.”