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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

CHELSEA – The best player in the history of Chelsea girls basketball is now officially moving on to play college basketball as Haley Trotter put pen to paper to sign for Shelton State Community College.

Trotter made her long-time college commitment official with a special signing ceremony on Friday, April 4 at the Chelsea High School library.

For Trotter, it’s the culmination of years of anticipation and work to get to the college level as well as the relationship that she has with the Shelton State staff.

“It feels great, like I’m very happy where I’m going,” Trotter said. “It’s a really good opportunity for me to sign somewhere when I’ve been looking everywhere high and low, even though I had those moments when I was like worried that I wasn’t going to get anywhere. But they have been looking at me since my freshman year, so it was a really great opportunity.”

Trotter was attracted to the opportunity of playing at Shelton State because it allows her to both be close to her family while playing for a high-level program that can help her continue her basketball journey.

“Well, number one, it’s close to home, and two, my sister literally lives in Tuscaloosa right there,” Trotter said. “So, it’s good, like if I ever get worried or if I get homesick, I can just go to her. But also, they have a good program where they can get me to the next level. So, I was like, ‘I can trust her, my family can trust her,’ so I just believe everything that she can do for me.”

During the ceremony, Chelsea coach Jason Harlow reflected on Trotter’s work ethic, which he first saw during her eighth-grade year when she worked over the summer to become an undeniable varsity player as opposed to JV.

He said that led her to get better each and every season, going from a good rebounder her freshman year to a two-way threat in each area of the court during her senior season, and he is confident that will continue to be the case as she moves on to college.

“She never got satisfied with being a good player,” Harlow said. “And as a coach, that’s one of the things that’s dangerous when you have a kid that comes in who’s good but gets satisfied with being good, and they don’t necessarily want to do what it takes to be great, but that was never the case with Haley. She got better every single year that she was here, and that’s why she has this opportunity today, which is just the beginning of her college career. It’s just the start of it because I know she’s going to do fantastic things because she’s going to take that same work ethic to college and she’s going to do great things.”

One of those great things she will have a chance to do is follow up on Shelton State’s appearance in the 2025 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) national championship game.

That success excites Trotter even more to get to Tuscaloosa and help the Bucs continue their recent run of success.

“Ever since they made it to the national championship, I’m like, ‘They can do it, we can do it next year,’” Trotter said. “I know we can get back to that point for them.”

Trotter ends her Hornets career as the most decorated girls basketball player in program history. She was a two-time All-State selection, the 2025 finalist for 6A girls basketball Player of the Year, a four-time All-Regional pick and three-time All-County and All-Area player.

Trotter also made history as the first Chelsea basketball player of any gender to be named an Alabama-Mississippi All-Star, North-South All-Star and Shelby County Player of the Year, the latter of which she won twice.

Now, as Harlow prepares to say goodbye to his program’s all-time leading scorer and rebounder and the player who led them to a historic state championship appearance in 2025, he looks at Trotter as the model for how to leave a legacy at Chelsea High School.

“It’s going to be just tough to say goodbye to this one and this family for sure, but the great thing about it is she’s leaving a strong legacy,” Harlow said. “I tell the kids when they come in, ‘You need to think about what people are going to say about you when you’re not here anymore.’ And she leaves a strong legacy to say the very least.”

Trotter took time to thank her parents, teammates, George, trainer Gianna, Chelsea’s radio station Kool 96.9 and her coaches, including both Harlow and her AAU coach Joel Floyd.

Many of them attended her signing ceremony, which meant a lot to Trotter as she got to spend another moment with the people around her while they celebrated her big achievement.

“This is a really sad moment, obviously, but this is a good gathering to see my teammates again, like, almost the last time, but we still have our banquet,” Trotter said. “But this means a lot to me, just having a lot of people coming here and, having a lot of support, so it just means a lot.”