Mya Hollingshed aims to impact Aces as rookie following standout career at Colorado

It might be her first week as a WNBA professional, but Mya Hollingshed isn’t giving herself any free passes just because she wrapped up her college career only four weeks ago.

“Trying to learn on the fly – that’s something that Coach Becky (Hammon) has been drilling into us – just trying to learn on the fly and get those plays down so, you know, we’re ready at any moment,” said Hollingshed, who was selected eighth overall by the Las Vegas Aces in the 2022 WNBA draft on April 11. “Just because we’re rookies doesn’t mean we can go in there and not be sharp.”

The 22-year-old Hollingshed, who hails from Houston, Tex., is one of five rookies currently on the Aces’ roster after recently finishing her five-year career at Colorado by leading the Buffaloes to their first NCAA Tournament appearance in nine years. While they lost in the first round to Creighton, 84-74 on March 18, Hollingshed walked away as the Buffs’ all-time leader in games played (141) and finished sixth all-time in points (1,681), rebounds (911) and double-doubles (25).

“We feel like Mya had a tremendous upside, a very high ceiling,” Aces’ first-year head coach Becky Hammon told media on Wednesday. “We love the way she shot the ball in college. … We feel like we have a good system in place for her to learn and definitely have an eye towards her development over the years, for sure, to make sure she gets to the spots and gets the work and the attention that she needs to be the type of player she wants to be and that we think she can be.”

Hammon, who played in the WNBA for 16 years, signed on with Las Vegas in December, and this season marks her first as head coach after spending the last eight years as an assistant for the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs. In 2014,