The first three recruiting classes of the Margaret McKeon Era at Boston University have yielded heralded players who spurned colleges in high profile conferences for a chance to play in the cozy confines of Case Gymnasium. The results from that collection of talent have included two winning seasons, one America East championship and one NCAA appearance for the women’s basketball team. If the fourth recruiting class, which was announced on Tuesday, is any indication, that trend of success will continue.
Nadia Bibbs, Erica Kovach and Meredith Onson have all given written commitments to join the BU class of 2007, and will begin play in the 2003-04 season. All three players will fill different needs for the Terriers and add depth to a team that loses only two seniors from the 2002-03 edition that won the America East tournament.
Bibbs, a 5’7″ guard from Hillcrest High School in Oak Forest, Ill., filled up the stat sheet during her high school career. She averaged 18 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and six steals in her senior year and earned Class 2A All-State Third Team honors. Bibbs was named an honorable mention pre-season All-American by Adidas and StreetSmith, as well as being named one of the Top 50 point guards in the nation by All-Star Girls Report. McKeon beat out George Washington University, the team that she had great success recruiting for as an assistant coach, as well as St. Louis University and Northwestern University to get the services of Bibbs.
Bibbs will add depth to a crowded, but injury-riddled corps of point guards. The four returning players at the position all missed at least four games last year, and two, juniors Courtney Jones (ankle) and Lashaunda Mitchell (ACL), suffered season-ending injuries.
Onson will join Bibbs in the backcourt next season. A 5’11” guard, she was named Wisconsin Player of the Year by the Associated Press, the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association and Milwaukee-Journal Sentinel. The Oshkosh, Wisc. native led Oshkosh West High School to an undefeated season and the Wisconsin State title in her senior season. She chose the scarlet and white over the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Onson, who will join sophomore forwards and Wisconsin natives Larissa Parr and Adrienne Norris to form a trio of Terrier cheese-heads, will be stuck in a logjam of guards that includes three seniors (Jones, Mitchell and two-time First Team All America East selection Katie Terhune) for next season. With the surplus of guards, McKeon will almost certainly feature the three-guard lineups that she used this past season.
Kovach is the only post player of the bunch, but she comes with enough accolades to fill an entire media guide. The 6’1″ forward and Georgetown, Texas native was recently named Central Texas Player of the Year. She garnered All-State First Team honors from Texas Basketball Magazine, the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches and the Texas Girls Coaches Association and was ranked a Top-40 Power Forward by the All-Star Girls Report. Kovach turned down Georgetown University and the University of Colorado to come to BU.
If past history means anything, the last time McKeon beat out Georgetown for a player it turned out to be well worth it. The player was current freshman guard Katie Meinhardt, who picked up Rookie of the Year honors from the America East Conference after an impressive first season.
BU TO HOST TOURNAMENT The Terriers are set to bring back the Boston University Women’s Basketball Invitational for next season. The tournament, which the Terriers hosted in the 2000-01 and 2001-02 seasons, was not held in the 2002-03 season.
It will be played on Nov. 22-23 at Case Gymnasium and will feature Texas A’M University, LaSalle University and Sam Houston State University, according to the LaSalle athletics website.
The Terriers finished in fourth place in 2000, losing in the first round to Yale University and in the consolation game to the University of Miami-Ohio.
In 2001, BU grabbed a win in the consolation game against Georgia Southern University following a first round loss to the University of South Florida.
ROUNDING OUT THE SCHEDULE There is no word yet on whether the addition of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County to the America East, as announced on Tuesday, will affect BU’s non-conference schedule in 2003-04. The Terriers were scheduled to play 16 games (two against each team) in conference play, but the addition of a 10th team to the conference may increase that number to 18 games.
The NCAA allows teams to play a maximum of 26 regular season games along with one exempted tournament a year. If 18 conference games are scheduled, the non-conference slate of games would have to be reduced from ten to eight games to comply with NCAA rules.
The Terriers are also scheduled to complete a home and home series with a trip to Stanford University during the 2003-04 season. The Cardinal played at BU in December, beating the Terriers 69-55.