You Never Bet Against a McConnell: Duquesne’s Star Returns for Final Ride

Megan McConnell, or “Meg,” as she’s known around Duquesne, is not your ordinary five-foot-seven guard.

McConnell, who shares a last name with some of the city’s all-time great hoopers, stands at fifth place on Duquesne’s all-time rebounding list. The scrappy guard has made a name for herself on all ends of the court — from rebounding the ball, to tenacious defense, to electrifying offense.

After earning First Team All-Atlantic 10 last season, the Chartiers Valley grad had a decision to make. She had already made her mark at Duquesne. Several other key players had transferred out of the program, including Tess Myers, who went up to the power-conference level to play with Wisconsin. Surely, McConnell could have done the same had she wanted to. However, she’s different.

“It’s interesting about Meg,” Duquesne head coach Dan Burt said on The Pittsburgh Basketball Show. “When you talk about her, she’s going to go down as one of the all-time greats at Duquesne, and that was very important to her. She has personal goals that she wants to reach, but her team goals override that. When she made the decision to stay, her decision to stay had nothing to do with name, image, and likeness money. Nothing. Everything was about the team and the support of the team so the team would reach their goals and win a championship. That’s the definition of a leader, a captain, and a team player and someone who is a hall-of-famer for us.”

McConnell comes from a family loaded with basketball talent and IQ. She is the younger sister of NBA standout T.J. McConnell and former Robert Morris standout Matty McConnell. Her father, Tim, is a legendary WPIAL coach in the area — having earned eight WPIAL titles throughout his time coaching both the boys’ squad at Chartiers Valley (1992-2018) and the girls’ (2018-present). Her aunt, Suzie McConnell-Serio, is a women’s basketball hall of famer. She has earned an Olympic gold medal, led the Duquesne women’s program to 123 wins as head coach from 2007-13, and coached Pitt for five seasons, too. Meg’s uncle, Tom, coaches college basketball as well. He was the eight-year head coach of IUP’s women’s basketball squad (retired in 2022), leading them to the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight twice in his tenure.

The basketball roots in the family are clear. But that’s not to say that Meg hasn’t proven herself, too.

“I can’t thank her enough for her trust in myself and our coaching staff,” Burt continued. “It’s a two-way street, though. Years ago, when she was a high-school junior and senior, there were many doubters about her for being too small and too frail even though she led Char Valley to three state titles, maybe four state championships. People questioned her frame and her size. She didn’t have a lot of division one interest. She came to Duquesne, and we thought we were going to have to redshirt her as a freshman, and we realized, you never bet against a McConnell.”