By Mikael DeSanto
Sports Editor
Though they continue to seek solutions on the court, the St. Bonaventure University women’s basketball team has found a measure of success off the court.
Sophomore guard Mckenna Maycock was recently named to the CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) Academic All-District team. Maycock is the sole representative of the Atlantic 10 conference this season and is joined by Kia Nurse (UConn), Erika Steeves (Brown), Lena Munzer (Yale), Sigi Koizar (Maine) and Samantha Cooper (Fairfield).
“I just think it’s a really great honor and I am excited about it,” Maycock said. “It is nice to see that the hard work in school pays off.”
The Bonnies head coach, Jesse Fleming, said Maycock has worked hard to earn the honor and her performance on the court mirrors that as well.
“I pick on her all the time, like ‘uh oh, what’d you do? Did you get a 92 on a test today? Get it going,’” Fleming said. “I’m just so pleased with Mckenna on and off the court this year. She has become a confident player off the court and she has always been a confident person in the classroom. She is just a really bright kid, she is a really good kid, and I’m thrilled for her.”
Maycock, an accounting major at the university, has maintained a 4.0 grade-point-average throughout her academic career and has yet to not make the conference honor roll and dean’s list since arriving.
She talked about how her focus has always been primarily on her school work and finding success in those endeavors.
“It has always been the most important thing to me no matter what, even in high school. I would say it was more important than sports,” Maycock said. “I just try to manage my time, always set out times to study when I don’t have practice and make sure I always find time for tests and everything.”
Maycock said a big part of her development academically has been her parents, who are both teachers.
“I think that was really a big deal because they always taught me how important my grades were,” Maycock said. “So I took that to college too and make sure I’m always getting my work done.”
Overall, academics are a huge part of the women’s basketball program, according to Fleming, and Maycock is an example of that.
“We have four standards and one of them is that you dominate in the classroom,” Fleming said. “It’s not a suggestion for us. I have a staff of people who were really great students and through the last 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 years we have always done really well in the classroom. We’re at a university. I went here and [assistant coach Andrea Mulcahy] went here, we know you have the support here to do well and there is absolutely no reason you shouldn’t dominate in the classroom.”
Maycock will now be eligible for selection to the All-America team, which separates honorees into first team, second team and third team. The All-America teams will be announced later in the month.
desantmj13@bonaventure.edu
