Podcast Episode 1: Keila Evans “Basketball, Identity, Grief, Motherhood & Reinvention”
Keila Evans is a former standout athlete whose journey reflects resilience, leadership, and growth beyond the game. A decorated high school competitor, she earned recognition as an Adidas, Nike, Gatorade, and Parade High School All-American, a Street & Smith All-American, and a McDonald’s All-American Game nominee. She went on to become a standout collegiate athlete and fierce competitor, known for carrying both strength and sensitivity in the same breath.
Keila and Dr. Josiah came up playing select ball with Team Unique under Coach James and Coach Jerry, attending elite camps and showcases including Blue Star Select, All Games Sports, and Reebok (just to name a few), where discipline, resilience, and sisterhood were forged.
Today, Keila channels that same intensity into art. A contemporary mixed media artist, her vibrant pop-art–inspired work explores identity, emotion, and personal narrative through bold color, oil pastels, acrylics, and mural work. Influenced early by museum experiences with her mother and comic art styles, Keila’s creative journey evolved alongside her athletic one. She has exhibited work in Baltimore and internationally, sold a piece in Mexico City, and has upcoming exhibitions in Harlem, NY (“The Glass House”) and a solo show at Quid Nunc Art Gallery (2026).
On Beyond the Final Buzzer, Keila shares insight on transition, identity, and redefining success beyond performance, showing how the lessons from sport shape purpose for life.
Podcast Recording: Episode 1
Podcast Episode 2: Shania Johnson “Faith, Injury, Selfhood, & Becoming”
Shania Johnson is a former professional basketball player whose journey reflects perseverance, faith, and creative becoming beyond the game. Raised in Frederick, Maryland, she emerged as a disciplined and versatile athlete, carving a path from junior college to Division I basketball and ultimately to professional play overseas an achievement reached by fewer than one percent of athletes. Her career demanded not only elite skill, but deep trust in herself and in God as the path unfolded in unexpected ways.
Shania and Dr. Josiah share deep roots, family, community, and basketball lineage, growing up in Frederick and navigating the demanding ecosystems of competitive basketball together. From early gyms to higher levels of play, their shared experiences shaped a mutual understanding of discipline, sacrifice, and the unspoken pressures placed on Black women athletes to perform, endure, and persist.
Throughout her career, Shania faced profound challenges, including two torn ACLs, extended time overseas, and personal grief. These moments disrupted the rhythm of the game and forced a reckoning with identity, mental health, and purpose, particularly as a Black woman and member of the LGBTQIA+ community navigating athletic spaces that did not always allow for full authenticity.
Today, Shania channels her creativity and care into multiple roles beyond the court. She is a special education assistant teacher, basketball trainer, tattoo artist, fiancée, and mother, each expression reflecting the same artistry, intention, and resilience that once defined her game. While the medium has changed, her creativity has not.
On Beyond the Final Buzzer, Shania shares a powerful reflection on faith, injury, transition, and redefining success beyond performance. Her story reminds us that the game may end, but becoming does not.
Podcast Recording: Episode 2
Podcast Bio
Beyond the Final Buzzer is a mental health–centered podcast amplifying the lived experiences, resilience, and evolution of Black women athletes both on and off the court.
Hosted by Dr. Nia Josiah, former Division I athlete, Ivy League professor, and psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner, the podcast explores what happens after the game clock runs out, when identity, purpose, wellness, and womanhood intersect beyond sport.
This show moves past highlight reels and statistics to examine the psychological, cultural, and emotional realities that shape the journeys of Black women athletes from youth sports to collegiate levels (JUCO, D3, D2, D1) and into life transitions beyond competition.
Through candid conversations with former and current athletes, coaches, and leaders, the podcast explores:
Athletic identity and life beyond sport
Mental health, resilience, and emotional regulation
Injury, transition, and grief when careers change or end
The “Strong Black Woman” expectation and emotional suppression
Intersectional stress — navigating race, gender, and performance pressure
Leadership, purpose, and redefining success
Healing, reinvention, and legacy building
Grounded in both clinical expertise and lived athletic experience, Dr. Josiah bridges research, mental health education, and storytelling. Each episode offers not only narrative but insight helping listeners understand the psychological strengths Black women athletes develop, including adaptability, emotional intelligence, perseverance, and community leadership.
Beyond the Final Buzzer is a space of affirmation, truth-telling, and restoration where performance is no longer the only measure of worth, and where athletes are supported in reclaiming their full identities, wellness, and purpose beyond the game.
Multimedia Editor: Jolie S. Jemmott is a former standout athlete turned emerging scholar and clinician. She competed in both volleyball and basketball before channeling her competitive drive into the field of nursing. Jolie earned her BSN from Hampton University and her MSN from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. She is currently completing her PhD at Duke University School of Nursing, where her research focuses on improving mental health and health equity for marginalized communities, particularly in substance use care. Jolie’s experience as a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner informs her commitment to impactful research and leadership in nursing science.