Senior Morgyne Weaver is closing out a great season in her final year playing basketball for the Blue. Recently, Weaver became the 11th player in Wellesley basketball history to score 1,000 points in her college career and currently leads her team with 13.4 points and 7.8 rebounds per game. A Media Arts and Sciences major from Oklahoma City, Weaver recently sat down with The Wellesley News to discuss her recent achievement, balancing academics and athletics at Wellesley and to reflect on her basketball career.
Sravanti Tekumalla (S.T.): When did you start playing basketball?
Morgyne Weaver (M.W.): I believe I started playing basketball when I was five. My mom played in college as well, so I started early.
S.T.: So what made you want to play at Wellesley?
M.W.: I think I wasn’t done playing in high school, and Wellesley’s a really good school. I mean, I just didn’t feel like I was done playing and I wanted to play more, but I didn’t want to play somewhere where it would take over my life. It is a lot of a work here, but it is really rewarding.
S.T.: What do you think you’ve learned from being a student-athlete at Wellesley?
M.W.: It’s a lot harder than you think! It can be frustrating at times, because not everyone understands the amount of work you put in, but it’s worth it because you meet some of your best friends playing sports.
S.T.: So what’s your favorite part about playing basketball?
M.W.: Probably the team.
S.T.: Yeah, I figured! Is there any special highlight or something you’ve done to bond with them recently?
M.W.: Our Wintersessions are when we bond because we’re here at Wellesley for a month. We’re just together the entire time.
S.T.: Do you guys come back two or three weeks before?
M.W.: This year, we were back on [Dec.] 26th and we flew to Puerto Rico rather than coming back here, but we usually come back the 28th.
S.T.: I know this season, you’ve been practicing at Babson for most of the season, right?
M.W.: During the semester, we were [practicing] in the morning, which wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be because you had the whole afternoon free. But over Wintersession, sometimes we’d run into their team, and it was weird not having our own gym.
S.T.: Right. You played your most recent game at the KSC, right? How was that?
M.W.: It was very different because now it’s a lot easier for fans to come, so the stands are a lot more full than before.
M.W.: It was very different because now it’s a lot easier for fans to come, so the stands are a lot more full than before.
S.T.: So coming to the 1,000 points achievement: How does that feel, and how do you think you achieved that record?
M.W.: I didn’t even realize that it was really happening until one of my teammates said something to me. So it wasn’t really something that I gue
s you try to do – like it’s not in the back of your mind the whole time, it just kind of happens. I mean, it’s great that it happened, but I would’ve still been fine if it hadn’t.
S.T.: What do you think you’ve learned, and how do you think you’ve grown from playing basketball at Wellesley these past four years?
M.W.: You learn a lot of leadership from it, and it’s interesting because I was a captain in high school, but the amount of leadership you learn here is very, very different from high school because you’re also dealing with things outside of school. In college, you don’t go to your family if you’re having a problem; you go to your friends, so I think it also brings you a lot closer with your teammates.
S.T.: A couple questions to wrap up: are you going to continue to play basketball after you graduate? What’s next?
M.W.: No, I don’t think I will.
S.T.: What will you miss most about playing basketball at Wellesley?
M.W.: Definitely the team.
S.T.: And about Wellesley in general?
M.W.: Probably basketball, my team, and my friends.
PHOTO COURTESY OF ALEX BERMAN ’16
