College commitment: Midview's Mary Meng MAC-bound, will continue basketball career at Bowling Green

Midview's 6-foot-4 center Mary Meng has already left a big impression on the local basketball scene. Now she's ready to cast a shadow over the Mid-American Conference. On Sunday, Meng announced via her Twitter account that she had orally committed to continue her basketball career at Bowling Green State University. "It was a long process," Meng said. "I fell very blessed to have as many options and opportunities as I did, but ultimately I chose Bowling Green because i thought it was the best fit for me and my family. Staying close enough to have my parents and everyone who has supported me through the years come to my games was a factor in my decision." Meng, a second-team Division I All-Ohio selection, led the area in rebounding with 16.5 per game while also averaging 16.8 points and four blocked shots. It was her first season in a Middies uniform after starting her high school career at Christian Community School. "Mary has always been a wonderful person and teammate and she's a great leader," Midview coach Brittney McNamara said. "For her to step into a role to lead a team the way she did with girls she never met before showed what kind of leader she is. "The winning culture we want to create in Midview basketball really started coming together last year and Mary was a huge part of that. We had an 18-win season and we really turned the program around." When Meng was dominating at Christian Community in her first two years of high school — averaging 20.4 points and 15.9 rebounds her sophomore year — she really had no thoughts of playing college basketball at its top level. "I never thought I'd be going Division I played when I was at CCS," Meng said. "I think my parents and my coaches might have thought that but I never saw this for myself back then." Stepping up to play against stiffer competition in the Southwestern Conference and playing a challenging summer schedule with the area's top AAU programs changed Meng's way of thinking and allowed her to catch the eye of college coaches across the country. "Making the move from CCS to Midview was a huge jump in competition," Meng said. "Also this summer with MAC Basketball we played a lot of great teams with great players that are committed to some really great colleges. That exposure really helped everything come together for me physically and mentally." Although Meng has only been at Midview one year, she's already made her mark on the school's record book, setting marks for most rebounds in a game (28) and season (346). She also set a record with 151 field goals. "For someone of Mary's caliber and talent to come and help us start to change the minds of other girls in the program was exactly what we needed," McNamara said. "Mary is showing everyone what kind of things can be accomplished in this program." With the recruiting process completed just in time for preseason practices to start Friday, Meng is focused on doing big things her senior year. "We are pumped for this season," Meng said. "There's a lot of energy and expectations surrounding this season. We've been working really hard and we're excited to see how everything comes together. "There's a level of wanting to enjoy my final high school season because I'm never going to be able to play with these people and in this place again. We want to win conference, we want to have another record-breaking season and we want to go as far as we can in the state tournament." Contact Todd Shapiro at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.