THE OBVIOUS QUESTION for star recruit Ja’Shaun Lloyd is, why Texas State?
The No. 2 prep 110 hurdler all-time (13.20) could have gone most anywhere out of Corsicana High (Texas), including in-state powers like Texas or A&M, so why is he heading to a program in San Marcos that before last spring hadn’t won a Sun Belt Conference title in 6 years?
What Lloyd may represent, beyond fast times, is changing times in college athletics. He doesn’t know how long he’ll be running college track so for him, fit and feel when he’s there was much more important than simply heading off to the biggest-name school.
“The thing about me, I wasn’t very adamant on having a dream school, it was where I felt comfortable,” Lloyd says. “As soon as I set foot on campus, it was everything I imagined college to be. At practice, the vibes were so much like home: very upbeat. The practice wasn’t dead, the coaching was smooth. You could see it. There were true athlete/coach relationships with every single coach. That drew me in.”
When he arrived at Texas State after his recordsetting senior season at Corsicana, by some measures Lloyd became the second biggest name on the track roster behind the man coaching him, the WR holder in the 110H, Aries Merritt. The 40-year-old Merritt made it to San Marcos in ’24 from Brown, where he had begun his coaching career in ’22.
“Bringing someone like Ja’Shaun in has opened a lot of doors and opened a lot of eyes from other recruits,” Merritt says. “You’ve seen a large shift when it comes to recruiting in general. You see a lot of athletes are choosing schools based off of feeling and coaching instead of going to the biggest schools.
“You see that with Ja’Shaun, you see that with [400 runner] Quincy Wilson as well at Maryland [next fall]. Texas State is on the verge of a new era and you’re going to see a lot of special things with our program this year.”
To that last point, Lloyd says, “People need to stay tuned.”
That goes for Lloyd individually as well.
The segue to college life “was really smooth,” he says. “I already knew a couple of my teammates coming in, they made sure the process was smooth. Coach-wise, we clicked instantly. It’s a good team culture so I didn’t have to worry about fitting in anywhere, finding my own groove. It was all set up for me, I just came in and do what I needed to do.
“Right now I’m working on the 42s, making sure they are very clean. Everything else is falling into place how I expected it to. It’s just getting clean over the hurdles consistently, I want to stay 100% consistent over the 42s.”
Merritt says Lloyd’s transition from the HS-height 39-inch barriers has gone remarkable well: “We’re working on getting clear and clean over 42-inch hurdles and he’s coming along at a pretty alarming rate. Sometimes it takes freshmen a long time to transition. I’ve seen people out of high school take three years to transition to 42-inch hurdles. I have some tricks up my sleeve that expedite that process and I’m teaching him all those things.
“He’s not as consistent as he’d like to be but that will come over time. Aside from that, my expectation is he’s going to open up his season with a personal best over 42 inches because he hasn’t hurdled over 42 inches yet. Every time he runs he’ll run a personal best.”
As to where that leads, Merritt thinks it will be to the top, and quickly. “As he continues to get more and more comfortable you’re going to see him really excel,” Merritt explains. “My goal is for him to make it to the national championships as a freshman, even indoor, and to continue that trend into outdoors. I have a lot of faith in him, the rest is up to him. He has to believe in himself and the sky’s the limit.”
Lloyd has big goals beyond just reaching Nationals. “Not just getting there but winning,” he reveals. “A lot of people come in to college with a mindset of, ‘I’m just a freshman.’ For me, I’m here for a good time, not a long time. At the end of the day I want to go pro. So I’m going to come in like I’m a senior, run like I’m a senior. After that I want to go to U20s and do the same thing. I want to show the world I’m capable of doing what I said.”
