Megan Matsko’s Perspective on the Game of Basketball Evolves

Carnegie Mellon University women's basketball senior Megan Matsko has played sports for as long as she can remember. Growing up in her family, sports were a part of every day.

"At a really young age, I played pretty much every sport you could possibly imagine," Matsko said.

She played lacrosse, soccer, softball and field hockey. She also remembers going to golf lessons and tennis camp. But with limited time, Matsko narrowed her sports down to just soccer and basketball in high school.

"I just fell in love with the game of basketball itself," Matsko explained. "It's probably my favorite sport to watch. It's a very fast-paced, competitive, and physical game, but there's still a lot of  strategy in it, which I really like."

At CMU, Matsko is a senior captain who plays shooting guard and small forward. Last year she led the team in blocks and was third on the team in steals.

"I feel like a big aspect of my game is defense—I always pride myself in it," Matsko said.

One of Matsko's favorite aspects of basketball is continuing to learn and understand the game further.

"I would say the way that I view basketball now is very different than I did as a freshman," Matsko said. "I definitely didn't understand the game the way that I understand it now."

Matsko credits the mentorship of the upperclassmen when she first arrived on campus and now feels she can return the favor to the younger players by pushing them to be better players during practices and film review.

"As a senior, I understand how to be a good teammate, build a cohesive team culture, and be accountable," Matsko explained.  "We hold each other to these standards, whether it be in practice, in the locker room, or during games."

Upperclassmen are certainly there to guide underclassmen, but it's also important that the team bonds on a personal level. In Matsko's experience, a great way for the team to bond is through travel weekends and the team has three travel weekends each season during conference play.

"We'll fly on Thursday, play a game on Friday, bus to our next game, play on Sunday, and then fly back," Matsko explained. "They are pretty long weekends, but they are so fun."

New York City is one of Matsko's favorite places to visit within the conference.  Her favorite memory occurred during her sophomore year, when the team got stuck in NYC due to a snowstorm and spent the evening seeing the sites.

Now being able to look back on these memories as a senior, Matsko thinks of the game differently.

"I have such a respect for the game now, and a special love for this season. I just wanna play with joy every single day, especially knowing that this is the last season that I'll play at the collegiate level," Matsko said.

When Matsko sprained her ankle in a game earlier this year, this outlook became even more necessary. In both her recovery process and her comeback, she's remembering what's truly important in basketball: having fun.

Alongside basketball, Matsko is pursuing a psychology major. Her career goal is to work with children with ADHD and autism. Matsko spent last summer as a Recreational Counselor at the ADHD Summer Treatment Program at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.

"It was amazing—probably one of the best experiences I've had," Matsko said. "Being able to see the children's growth, which we charted every day, was amazing. I've never seen that growth in such a short period of time."

As her final season as a Tartan comes to a close in the next few weeks, she's focusing on the time she has left with her teammates on and off the court with plans to attend grad school to pursue a PhD in clinical psychology.