Cal guard Jayda Noble paints custom shoes to express her artistic side when she leaves the court

BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — With practice still a few hours away, Jayda Noble sits down at her desk and squeezes some fresh black paint right onto the top of her left hand just below the thumb. There’s already some white and red, a little bit of pink and purple along her wrist.

Of course paint always covers her university-issued California women’s basketball wear, too.

Noble works intently to touch up a pair of custom shoes she painted for Indiana guard Myles Rice, one of the two boxes Noble sent him for his first season with the Hoosiers after transferring from Washington State.

“Every time I do something I'm working on a skill," she said, “some brush work, some hand work, something. So I'm getting better and it's therapeutical. I feel like this is my me time all wrapped into one. It does get stressful, don't get me wrong, but if I keep a good kind of rhythm going every day then it's smooth sailing.”

Stacked just inside the door of her Berkeley apartment are boxes of in-progress shoes that Noble is trying to finish in any spare time she has between basketball and her graduate business studies at Cal.

She transferred from Washington and moved many of her art materials from Seattle to the Bay Area, including several large paintings. It’s her passion, sure, but also a business — and her catchy Instagram handle is “Jayyycasso,” like Picasso.

Rice is a redshirt sophomore at Indiana who sat out the 2022-23 season in Pullman, Washington, while undergoing treatment for Hodgkin’s lymphoma which he completed on March 9, 2023, with a final chemotherapy round.

He wore Spider-Man-themed shoes painted by Noble in his first home game and will carefully choose when to bring them out so they stay clean.

“I thought they were very beautiful ... and just made the thoughts that I had come to life,” Rice said. “She did two shoes. One was a Spider-Man one because that’s one of my favorite superheroes and it had my cancer ribbon on it as well so it was kind of close to me.”

Rice plans to be a repeat customer and send Noble more shoes later this season and also order some for his family as gifts. Noble and Rice became friends when both were in Washington.

Noble pulled off a Taylor Swift-themed shoe for another good friend, noting, “I’m not the biggest Swiftie but I thought they were fun to do.”

During an off day, Noble might paint into the wee hours. Sometimes her roommate and teammate Kayla Williams comes out of her room at 2:30 a.m. to find Noble still busy at her art.

“She’ll just be like, ‘What are you doing up?’" Noble said, “and I’m like, ‘What are you doing up?’”

Noble keeps about six pairs of shoes in a painting rotation so if she needs a break from one there’s another to paint until an idea comes and she goes back to one she set aside.

“It’s easier to work on a shoe and then not feel it anymore and jump to something else,” she said. “And it keeps it interesting for me so that I can bounce around.”

Noble did shoes for each of her teammates and the Cal coaching staff and is nearly done with 15 “PR boxes," as she calls them — shoes for some of the nation’s top stars who might become supporters and help spread the word. UConn's Paige Bueckers was on that list, and TCU’s Hailey Van Lith just received a pair featuring flowers and a horned frog for her school mascot.

“They’re beautiful. She’s obviously extremely talented. I’m just so grateful that she thought of me and that I inspired her to create such a beautiful piece of art," Van Lith said. “Very grateful for her, for using her artistic skills and creating such an awesome surprise. ... The one thing you love about Jayda is she’s such a genuine and authentic person. She’s going to be who she is and that’s what you love about her.”

Soon, it looks as if Noble might even be painting shoes for a couple of interested sneakerheads on the Golden State Warriors: Jonathan Kuminga and Lindy Waters III.

On the court for No. 24 Cal, Noble has made an impact with her energy and stingy defense. She contributed a 3-pointer during Friday's 83-63 victory against Stanford as the Golden Bears made a program-record 18 3s.

Coach Charmin Smith has a couple of pairs and will add more to her rotation.

“Those Jayyycasso's, they're hot,” Smith said.

The 5-foot-11 guard comes by her artistic talent naturally. Noble fondly remembers painting with her avid scrapbooking mother growing up in Spokane, Washington.

When nearly done, she meticulously takes one final scan of the entire shoe in search of anything that isn’t quite right and will "go back over them with either my paint remover or white paint, and just clean it up so they look really nice.”

Noble sets her prices based on how long she spends on a project and when a customer needs the shoes. Most run about $175 with shipping and it's an additional $15 for the box to also be painted.

Since Rice purchased two pair she gave him a deal.

“I’ve been able to be a part and see everything since she started it,” Rice said. “We both were on the West Coast in the Pac-12. Just seeing the heights that she’s brought it to and everything she does it’s just amazing to see and I’m really happy for her.”

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In this image provided by Indiana Athletics, Indiana guard Myles Rice is shown wearing shoes painted by California basketball player Jayda Noble as he brings the ball up the court during an NCAA college basketball game against SIU-Edwardsville, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, in Bloomington, Ind. (Trent Barnhart/Indiana Athletics via AP)

In this image provided by TCU Athletics, shoes painted by California basketball player Jayda Noble for TCU guard Hailey Van Lith are displayed in Fort Worth, Texas, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (Zach Campbell/TCU Athletics via AP)

In this image provided byt TCU Athletics, TCU guard Hailey Van Lith holds up shoes painted by California basketball player Jayda Noble in Fort Worth, Texas, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (Zach Campbell/TCU Athletics via AP)

A shoebox painted by California basketball player Jayda Noble for Indiana's Myles Rice is held by Noble in Berkeley, Calif., Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

California basketball player Jayda Noble in Berkeley, Calif., Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

California guard Jayda Noble looks to pass the ball during an NCAA college basketball game against Stanford in Berkeley, Calif., Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

The shoes of California guard Jayda Noble are shown before an NCAA college basketball game against Stanford in Berkeley, Calif., Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

California basketball player Jayda Noble holds up shoes showing her artwork in Berkeley, Calif., Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

California basketball player Jayda Noble in Berkeley, Calif., Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

California basketball player Jayda Noble holds a shoe she is painting in Berkeley, Calif., Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

California basketball player Jayda Noble mixes paint on her hand while painting shoes in Berkeley, Calif., Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

California basketball player Jayda Noble paints shoes in Berkeley, Calif., Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Shoes and artwork painted by California basketball player Jayda Noble are displayed in Berkeley, Calif., Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Shoes painted by California basketball player Jayda Noble are displayed in Berkeley, Calif., Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

California basketball player Jayda Noble is interviewed in front of her artwork in Berkeley, Calif., Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Richard “Dick” Codey, a former acting governor of New Jersey and the longest serving legislator in the state's history, died Sunday. He was 79.

Codey’s wife, Mary Jo Codey, confirmed her husband’s death to The Associated Press.

“Gov. Richard J. Codey passed away peacefully this morning at home, surrounded by family, after a brief illness,” Codey's family wrote in a Facebook post on Codey's official page.

"Our family has lost a beloved husband, father and grandfather -- and New Jersey lost a remarkable public servant who touched the lives of all who knew him," the family said.

Known for his feisty, regular-guy persona, Codey was a staunch advocate of mental health awareness and care issues. The Democrat also championed legislation to ban smoking from indoor areas and sought more money for stem cell research.

Codey, the son of a northern New Jersey funeral home owner, entered the state Assembly in 1974 and served there until he was elected to the state Senate in 1982. He served as Senate president from 2002 to 2010.

Codey first served as acting governor for a brief time in 2002, after Christine Todd Whitman’s resignation to join President George W. Bush’s administration. He held the post again for 14 months after Gov. Jim McGreevey resigned in 2004.

At that time, New Jersey law mandated that the Senate president assume the governor’s role if a vacancy occurred, and that person would serve until the next election.

Codey routinely drew strong praise from residents in polls, and he gave serious consideration to seeking the Democratic nomination for governor in 2005. But he ultimately chose not to run when party leaders opted to back wealthy Wall Street executive Jon Corzine, who went on to win the office.

Codey would again become acting governor after Corzine was incapacitated in April 2007 due to serious injuries he suffered in a car accident. He held the post for nearly a month before Corzine resumed his duties.

After leaving the governor’s office, Codey returned to the Senate and also published a memoir that detailed his decades of public service, along with stories about his personal and family life.

“He lived his life with humility, compassion and a deep sense of responsibility to others,” his family wrote. “He made friends as easily with Presidents as he did with strangers in all-night diners.”

Codey and his wife often spoke candidly about her past struggles with postpartum depression, and that led to controversy in early 2005, when a talk radio host jokingly criticized Mary Jo and her mental health on the air.

Codey, who was at the radio station for something else, confronted the host and said he told him that he wished he could “take him outside.” But the host claimed Codey actually threatened to “take him out,” which Codey denied.

His wife told The Associated Press that Codey was willing to support her speaking out about postpartum depression, even if it cost him elected office.

“He was a really, really good guy,” Mary Jo Codey said. “He said, ‘If you want to do it, I don’t care if I get elected again.’”

Jack Brook contributed reporting from New Orleans.

FILE - New Jersey State Sen. and former Democratic Gov. Richard Codey is seen before New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy delivers his State of the State address to a joint session of the Legislature at the statehouse, in Trenton, N.J., Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)