Feature: Megan Brown

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – The Southern Miss Lady Eagles are in a unique position – there is only one senior on the team this season. Megan Brown, a 5'10 guard from Slidell, La., is the lone senior for the Lady Eagles basketball team in the 2018-19 season.

In her fifth year, she has already earned her bachelor's degree in communications, and is now a graduate student studying Kinesiology. As a freshman, she saw play in all 36 games on the season and averaged 3.3 points and 1.4 rebounds per game. She scored in double figures in two games and drew a start in two games. She finished the season with 26 assists, 17 steals, and was named a recipient of the Conference USA Academic Medal. During the offseason, she injured her knee, and received a redshirt for her sophomore season. Coming back for her redshirt sophomore year, she started all 34 games and averaged 6.8 points and 3.4 rebounds. She shot .410 from the floor and had career-highs in field goals, rebounds, points and minutes during the season. Capping off the season, she was a recipient of the C-USA Commissioner's Medal and was named to the Dean's List.

As a redshirt junior, she again started all 30 games, and ended the season playing the most minutes out of anyone on the team. She had four games with 20 points, including her career-high of 22 against UTEP in February and had a career-high six 3-pointers in the same game.

Now in her senior year, she's already logged her 800th career point and been named to the All-Classic Team of the Lady Eagle Thanksgiving Classic. Just a month into the season, there are many celebrations still to come for Brown. To Coach McNelis, Megan is a big factor in the Lady Eagles' game. "We've got to have her," said Coach McNelis. "She's truly a difference maker in every aspect of our program and I just want her to relax, have fun, and enjoy the game in her senior year."

But celebration doesn't come without learning. "We're still really young, we're still learning a lot," said Brown. "I think maybe that's what we learned last year – that there's still a lot to learn." Liking the people she is learning with makes all the difference to Brown. "I'm excited about the chemistry we have, and it's hard to create that. I've been on teams in the past with good people, but we just didn't vibe as easily on the court and we had to work for that. We love each other. In the locker room we kid around, joke around, give each other a hard time, so that's exciting for me." Although, it can't be all play and no work for the Louisiana native. "We just need to learn to perform and to be effective on the court."

The role of a leader is most often placed on the shoulders of the most senior member, but that doesn't create pressure for Brown. "I think maybe it's because I've been here five years that it doesn't seem like there's so much pressure to be a leader," she said. "I think about it...I realized at volleyball's senior night, 'wait, I'm the only senior on my team', but I think because I'm surrounded by so many other good leaders, people that are learning and helping to lead with me, it doesn't make me feel like I'm alone in leading."

Brown isn't pressured by being a leader, but she does put pressure on herself – even in anticipation of those celebratory moments. "I just really enjoy playing the game and there was a time when I forgot how to enjoy it. That's my goal for this year, to enjoy playing. It seems like good things happen when you live your life that way and enjoy the gifts that God has given you and use it for his glory. That's what I do, and if 1,000 points comes with that I'll be like, 'YES! Let's celebrate!'"

Players Mentioned

Megan Brown

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