Teaira McCowan set a goal to earn All-America honors during her senior year at Brenham (Texas) High School.
When McCowan wasn’t invited to the McDonald’s All-American Game, the 6-foot-7 center thought the chances of realizing her goal had ended.
But a phone call Monday afternoon from Mississippi State women’s basketball associate head coach Johnnie Harris changed McCowan’s thinking and informed her she was one of 30 girls named to the Parade All-America team.
“I had no idea,” McCowan said of the honor. “Every game I went out and played hard and tried to make my presence felt and to let everybody know what I am about. I am about winning, and I like going hard.”
McCowan is the second-straight Bulldog to earn the honor, joining 2014 selection Victoria Vivians.
McCowan averaged 19.3 points, 17.1 rebounds, and four blocked shots this past season at Brenham High. In April, McCowan selected MSU over Baylor and Texas A&M and joined a solid recruiting class that also includes Jazmine Spears, Jazzmun Holmes, and Zion Campbell. Oklahoma State transfer Roshunda Johnson also will join the program, but she will have to sit out the 2015-16 season due to NCAA rules.
“We are really lucky in that we have had back-to-back years of having Parade All-Americans with Victoria and now with Teaira,” MSU coach Vic Schaefer said. “It speaks volumes for my staff and what they have done. It also sends a message across the country that parents trust us to not only take care of their daughters while they are here in college, but also to develop their daughters on and off the court. I think we have proven over the course of our careers that we have done that.”
Schaefer and his staff have transformed a program that went 13-17 in his first season to one that went 27-7 this past season and set records for wins in a season (27) and in the Southeastern Conference (11). MSU also returned to the NCAA tournament (a loss to Duke in the second round) for the first time since the 2009-10 season.
The addition of McCowan should help fill the void left by the graduation of 6-4 center Martha Alwal. She is expected to battle with center Chinwe Okorie and forward Sherise Williams on the front line.
Schaefer said he is excited to add a player like McCowan to the program because she fits the Bulldogs’ style of play. He also feels she will fit in well in a program that relied on strong chemistry to have a record-breaking season in 2014-15.
“We want young ladies who are highly motivated in the classroom and on the floor,” Schaefer said. “I think we have done a tremendous job identifying those student-athletes who fit what we’re looking for and what we’re about. Teaira fits what we’re looking for and what we have been a part of so many years in our careers. She knows what it takes to win at the highest level. She will be another integral piece that allows us to be very, very good in the coming years.”
McCowan was ranked 49th overall in the ESPN/HoopGurlz Top 100. She also was rated 26th by Premier Girls Report, 12th by Full Court, and 16th by All-Star Girls Report. In Texas, McCowan was a repeat Texas Association of Basketball Coaches All-State selection after leading the Cubettes to a 25-8 record.
McCowan agrees that the Parade All-America honor likely will increase the expectations she will face as a freshman, but she isn’t fazed by that. In fact, she said she believes it will motivate her because she knows she will practice against teammates who will make her better and stronger.
For someone who has never played against someone as big as Okorie, who is 6-5, in practice, that is the right mind-set to have for a player who could give MSU enough size in the post to compete with SEC powers South Carolina and Tennessee.
“I love the coaching staff and my (new) teammates,” McCowan said. “I fell in love with everything when I went down there and we all were together on the same page. … We are all looking for the same thing, and that is to get a ring.”
McCowan said she will graduate from high school Saturday and that she will leave Sunday to come to MSU to attend summer school.
MSU will take on South Florida
Schaefer confirmed that MSU has received a signed contract for a game against South Florida on Wednesday, Dec. 30, in Jacksonville, Florida. He said Florida will play Central Florida in the other half of the doubleheader.
The game will be a rematch of one of the Bulldogs’ most memorable games in recent memory, a 60-58 loss in the quarterfinals of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament on March 30, 2014, in Starkville. Courtney Williams hit a 3-pointer as time expired to lift the Bulls to the victory.
This past season, USF (27-8) tied a program record for wins in a season. It lost to Louisville in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
Williams, a 5-foot-8 guard who will be a senior in 2015-16, paced USF in scoring (20.3 points per game) this past season. She also averaged 7.5 rebounds per game and had 57 steals and 114 assists. Last month, she was earned a spot on the Team USA roster spot for the World University Games in July in South Korea.
Williams was an Associated Press honorable mention All-American and one of 12 players chosen to be a finalist for the Wade Trophy, which is given annually to the best women’s college basketball player.
MSU’s Victoria Vivians and USF’s Alisia Jenkins also were among the 54 college players invited to try out for the USA Basketball Women’s Pan American Games and World University Games team trials.
Jenkins, a 6-1 forward who also will be a senior in 2015-16, averaged 12.8 points and a team-high 11.3 rebounds per game this past season.
Atlanta Dream waive Alwal
The WNBA’s Atlanta Dream waived Alwal on Monday.
The former Bulldog wasn’t selected in the WNBA draft, but she signed a free agent contract with the Dream in April. She was waived Monday with guard Sequoia Holmes as the team attempts to get down to the roster limit in time for its first game of the season Friday against the New York Liberty.
Alwal had 10 points and one rebound in 19 minutes in a 79-55 loss to the Washington Mystics in an exhibition game on May 23.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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