Fighting On for Team, Self

There has been no standout player on the USC women’s basketball team that is a surprising 17-9 overall and in third place with an 11-6 record in the Pacific 10 Conference.

But the most indispensable player has probably been Meghan Gnekow.

The 5-11 junior plays guard and forward, averages 25.5 minutes and 5.8 rebounds to lead the team, is second with an 8.8 scoring average, and is fourth with 37 assists.

Going into USC’s final regular-season game, against UCLA (16-10, 10-7) Saturday at the Sports Arena, her 77 offensive rebounds lead the conference.

And what she has accomplished off the court is more impressive.

The 20-year-old from Santa Barbara has spent most of her life overcoming attention deficit disorder, a chronic condition with symptoms including hyperactivity, short attention span, lack of impulse control and low self-esteem.

“It’s always been a struggle to just pay attention and take in what everyone else is taking in,” Gnekow said.

Gnekow is not the only one in her family with ADD. It was passed on genetically by her mother, Pam. Her brother Brandon, a Marine corporal stationed in Iraq, also has the condition. Her sisters Erin, twins Briana and Ariana, and father William, a retired radiologist, do not.

“A genetic link is common,” said Dr. Thomas Hicklin, an assistant professor at the USC Department of Psychiatry. “With adults, the hyperactivity goes away, but the inattentiveness continues. And other problems continue like restlessness and having difficulty in participating in quiet activities like reading.”

That would be difficult enough for a college student trying to maintain grades and graduate without the pressure of playing Division I basketball.

But Gnekow, whose attention span can be as short as 20 minutes, is determined to do both.

To be eligible to enroll at USC she took several high school classes twice simultaneously, once at Santa Ynez High and again with a certified instructor from a pilot program developed at the University of Missouri. The grades from both courses were combined into one grade.

To prepare for the Scholastic Assessment Test, Gnekow spent hours working with a tutor.

According to Pam, USC was among the few schools willing to take a chance on her daughter, and even then “we didn’t know until the day she moved into the freshman dorm that she was cleared academically by the NCAA.”

Entering college was the first step. Gnekow, a sociology major, still had to make it work.

“That first semester was so hard. I had no idea what to expect and the classes were so different,” Gnekow said. “And it wasn’t like high school where there was one-on-one help. With me, I’m better with one-on-one.

“I didn’t know what was going on the first month of school, until they gave me learning assistance where they could map out weekly what I would do each day, how much I would read, just to keep me on track.”

USC, like many universities, has an assistance center for students with learning disabilities. Gnekow gets a reminder call a day or so before assignments are due. And her family helps. Pam talks with her about following a daily outline. William buys the same textbooks Gnekow does, and reads with her over the phone to help with comprehension.

“I have a huge support group,” Gnekow said.

Gnekow expects to earn a degree in two more years, having slowed her progress on purpose, she says, because “I want to get the whole feel for the college life without basketball, not that basketball’s a bad thing.”

Indeed, basketball this season has been a very good thing. But mention her top performances -- 16 points and 13 rebounds against Texas Christian; 17 points, 10 rebounds against Arizona, making her the lone Trojan with more than one double-double -- and Gnekow deflects the praise.

“We’ve had a great season, we have a good record,” Gnekow said. “And it was really nice playing this year because there was no one person in the spotlight. A different person was stepping up every night and there was no pressure on anyone to be the superstar.”

While that may be true, Trojan assistant Kai Felton loves to talk about what she termed “the definitive Meghan moment” this season.

“It was in the TCU game,” Felton recalled. “In the last five minutes she was absolutely determined not to lose that game. She came up with two big steals....We just watch that tape over and over.”

Gnekow’s admirers extend beyond Heritage Hall.

“She does the little things that don’t always show up on stats,” UCLA Coach Kathy Olivier said. “You have to prepare for her. She’s got long arms, she’s very smart as far as getting the offensive board, she has a good nose for the ball. You worry about their big girls and then she sneaks in there.”

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Offensive Rebounds

Women’s offensive rebounding leaders in the Pacific 10 Conference (league games only; to be ranked, player must appear in at least 66.6% of team’s games):

*--* Player School Avg. Meghan Gnekow USC 3.18 Andrea Bills Oregon 3.13 Danielle Adefeso Arizona 2.80 Eshaya Murphy USC 2.59 Cathrine Kraayeveld Oregon 2.53 Jamie Funn USC 2.47

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