UW women’s hoops: Heidi McNeill finds her role

SEATTLE — It’s safe to say that Heidi McNeill’s college basketball career didn’t start off exactly like the Oak Harbor High School graduate expect.

She came to the University of Washington two and a half years ago as one of the most accomplished athletes in her high school’s history, a record-setting basketball and volleyball player.

Yet at the start of her junior season with the Huskies, McNeill’s bio in the team’s media guide still showed an impressive list of high school accomplishments, but little on her college hoops resume that would indicate that the 6-foot-3 forward was once a dominant presence on the court.

This season, however, McNeill is smiling once again as she finds herself playing more minutes and producing more than she ever has at Washington.

“It’s been good,” McNeill said of her third year with the Huskies. “It’s definitely been more fun.”

That fun just took a little longer to come than she had hoped.

Like so many other athletes who were the stars of their high school teams, McNeill suddenly found herself in a much deeper talent pool when she arrived at college. As a freshman, she played just 90 minutes over the course of 19 games, finishing the season with 23 points and 14 rebounds.

Things got worse last season when a stress fracture in her left foot kept McNeill out of preseason practices. She played 45 minutes in 16 games last season, scoring just four points.

“It was really hard my freshman year,” she said. “There were times when I was going through a workout, in the weight room or something, and I was just like, ‘What did I get myself into?’ but it got better.”

To make matters worse, McNeill was the only freshman in her incoming class.

“I was the only freshman on the team,” she said. “I was really shy and timid and I just really never got into a rhythm with my game like I did in high school.”

This year’s freshmen, on the other hand, have a support system of five to help ease the transition to college, something McNeill sees and wishes she could have had.

“They have close relationships with each other as freshmen going through the same stuff,” McNeill said of Washington’s freshman class. “I never really had that because I was just kind of the loner freshman.”

This season has been a rewarding one for McNeill after struggling through the first two years of college. In part because of injuries to other players, but also because of an improved game, McNeill found herself in the starting lineup to start the season. She started Washington’s first 13 games, and since losing that starting job, has played a bigger role off the bench than she ever did as a freshman or sophomore.

The numbers aren’t spectacular like they were at Oak Harbor, but McNeill is happy to be contributing meaningful points and rebounds, happy to be playing meaningful minutes.

Earlier this season, she had her first game in double-figure scoring with 10 points against Idaho. She also has established a career high with seven rebounds in a game. After scoring 27 points and grabbing 22 rebounds in 135 career minutes coming into this season, McNeill has 67 points (3.5 per game) and 57 rebounds (3.0) while averaging 21.5 minutes per game.

Teammates and coach Tia Jackson have praised McNeill for her improvements on the defensive end, as well as her versatility as a post player.

“She’s gotten better every single year,” senior point guard Emily Florence said. “Heidi plays a post position, but she’s so versatile, she can almost play like a guard too. She’s pretty good with the ball, she’s a good face-up post player, and she’s got lots of moves. We’re really confident in Heidi. She’s somebody we can count on. She’s a junior now and she’s a lot more confident out there.”

McNeill said the improvements started in the offseason. With a new coaching staff coming in, she figured it was time to start with a clean slate, forget about the disappointing first two seasons, and work harder than ever to make herself an important part of the team. For the first time, she spent the entire summer at the UW rather than only part of it in order to work out and practice more with teammates.

“With new coaches, I just came into the season with a fresh mind and said, ‘I’m going to work hard and get better this spring and summer,’” McNeill said. “I stayed here all summer to get better.”

The result, McNeill said, was a more aggressive offensive mentality and improved defensive skills. The payoff was a chance to start for the Huskies.

Eventually, however, freshman Jess McCormick started getting healthy from an ankle injury, and senior Andrea Plouffe came back from Achilles tendinitis, and McNeill saw her starting job go away. Still, McNeill feels more a part of the team than she ever has, and is willing to take whatever role comes her way.

“It’s a little bit hard, but I want to do whatever is best for the team, and if someone else is playing better or having a good run, then I understand that Coach is going to put that person in,” she said before Washington’s two-game road trip to Oregon. “Whoever has the hot hand is who she’s going to go to, and these past few games, I haven’t had the hot hand.”

Having shown she can contribute, McNeill knows that opportunity is now always close, even when she isn’t starting. On Saturday, for example, McNeill played 21 minutes with McCormack out and Laura McLellan limited from a knee injury, and grabbed a team-high six rebounds in the loss to Oregon.

“It’s always good to have depth,” Plouffe said. “We know that at any point she can come in the game and step up and we’re confident in what she can do.”

For the first time in a while, McNeill is feeling confident in what she can do as well, and for the first time, her college basketball career is beginning to look a bit more like what she imagined when she signed her letter of intent as a senior at Oak Harbor.

“It’s been a lot better this year getting in right from the start,” she said, noting that she’s ready to contribute as a starter or reserve. “I feel like I need to step up and prove that I’m ready to go at a second’s notice. I’m ready to play no matter what.”

Contact Herald Writer John Boyle at jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more on University of Washington athletics, check out the Huskies blog at heraldnet.com/huskiesblog.