Completed Event: Women's Basketball at Brown on February 13, 2026 , Loss , 51, to, 58
Final
Women's Basketball
at Brown
51
58
A Phoenix Rising: Michelle Meyer '10
2/14/2010 12:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
The phoenix is a mythical creature that rises from its own ashes to live again.
In the winter of 2007-08, Michelle Meyer '10 found herself ablaze in a fire ignited by fate and fueled by her own psyche.
Prior to her sophomore season on the Dartmouth women's basketball team, Meyer had spent countless hours training and working on her game, poised to improve on a freshman year in which she played just 116 minutes.
"I came in to my sophomore year expecting a lot because of how hard I worked during the summer," said Meyer. "I didn't miss a single workout and I really, really wanted it."
Meyer's work did pay off in the preseason, when she impressed both coaches and teammates with her fitness level and skill. She was poised to make a difference on the court when injuries, including chronic left knee pain, sidelined her by November. Once back on the court, many of her offseason strides had been lost and her playing time diminished, averaging eight minutes in 24 games played.
"When I was struck with injuries, they set me back but I didn't look at the situation to see that those really did cause me to fall behind," said Meyer. "I developed a bad attitude and thought I was entitled to a lot of things."
Meyer toiled through the season as her team won a share of the Ivy League Championship and earned another WNIT bid. While her team excelled, she smoldered in agonizing and uncharacteristic frustration.
"It was a punching match every single day," admitted Meyer. "I'd go to practice and I'd hate myself and I'd hate basketball. I really did breathe a sigh of relief when the season was over."
* * *
That season, when she was tested, Meyer lost sight of the dreams and values that once drove her every move.
For the small-town girl from western Ohio, her basketball dream was cultivated by countless hours in the driveway, the gym, and even the family dining room, doing ball-handling drills. The desire grew stronger as she committed her heart to the game, her studies and her family.
For Meyer, basketball was in the blood, as father Jay, a former college basketball player, spent any free moment teaching his children the fundamentals of the game. Older brother, Jason, preceded her by four years on the basketball courts of both Covington High and Dartmouth.
"I was immersed in basketball," said Michelle. "I followed my brother and saw the work he and my dad had both put in, and I wanted to do it too." Meyer's mother, Lori, was also a college athlete, playing tennis at Ohio Northern, where her father played hoops.
A tight-knit group, the Meyer family is built on a strong base of faith and the grounding force that Michelle's older brother, Jordy, brings. Severe autism limits his physical ability, unable to partake in the family basketball tradition.
"We have Jordy to ground us and root us in our values," said Meyer. "Everyday he is a constant reminder not to take things for granted and to work hard for what you have - he doesn't have a lot of the things or abilities we do."
Ultimately, after an all-state career at Covington High and success with the prestigious Dayton Lady Hoopstars AAU program, Meyer chose to join her brother to play basketball for the Big Green.
* * *
Back to her sophomore season, when Meyer was a phoenix caught in a raging flame and unsure she could ever rise up. Perhaps she could just give up the game, the fire would squelch, and she'd simply move on.
Head coach Chris Wielgus met with Meyer after the 2007-08 season, giving her license to hang it up if she felt her body could no longer take the rigors of Division I basketball. The veteran coach understands when it's best for a player to walk away.
"There's only one reason you can get through four years in this program and that's having a passion for basketball," said Wielgus. "You can't do it because you've always done it, you have to have a love for the game."
Meyer found a new resolve when presented that challenge from the coach she deeply respected. Advice from her father and then Dartmouth captains Kristen Craft '08 and Sydney Scott '08, coupled with her own stubbornness made the decision easier than it might have seemed.
"I talked a lot of talk about hanging it up, but there was never a time when I really thought I would quit," said Meyer. "I like a challenge, which coach presented me with and I wasn't going to back down."
"Michelle has a toughness to her, but sophomore year she had to make a decision to either be tough or to alibi," said Wielgus. "When she realized she was going to be tough and take control of her own fate, she grew greatly."
* * *
And so, she began to rise up.
Meyer spent both her spring and summer terms on campus, working harder than ever and entered the 2008-09 season with a strengthened resolve and strengthened body. She was ready to contribute to Dartmouth's success on the court. Fate continued to toy with Meyer, however, as her aggressive workouts caused her knee to flare up again.
"I couldn't go to sleep or wake up without pain," said Meyer. "There wasn't a day that I wasn't in tears and it was another constant battle. Honestly, if I came close to quitting at any time, it was my junior year."
In December, Meyer opted for a surgery to remove a bone spur and damaged sections of the patellar tendon in her left knee. Though doctors initially predicted just a two-week down-time, post-surgery they declared it would be a much longer recovery. She ultimately managed just one more practice in mid-January before shutting down for the season without a single game played.
Wielgus recalled, "Talking on the phone after her surgery, she just kept saying 'I'll be back, I'll be strong.' It was really hard to watch Michelle work and dedicate herself only to come back and get hurt."
"In the midst of my struggle I knew I had to find a role," said Meyer. "If you're going to be part of a team, you just can't get mixed in the shuffle. I wanted coach and my teammates to know I was still there for them."
By doing so, she sealed a vital place on what became one of the most inspiring and battle-tested teams in recent memory. The 2009 Big Green rebounded from a 3-9 start to win 15 of its last 16 games en route to a 13-1 conference season, second straight Ivy League Championship and NCAA Tournament bid. Serving everything from "coach" to cheerleader to mentor for her teammates throughout the year, Meyer was honored with the team's Goss Spirit Award.
Through it all, Meyer's family had been there to support not just their daughter, but her entire team, routinely making the 14 hour drive from Covington to Hanover even while she was sidelined with injury.
"Her family fully supports the team whether she's playing or not," said Wielgus. "They were cheering just as loud when she was young and not getting time, or hurt and not even dressed for the game, as they are right now."
"Michelle's journey was different because it was interrupted and ironically some of it was accidents and some of it was self-inflicted," said Wielgus. "She came in here with the family values and faith based, but not a finished product. She's leaving an unbelievably special person, charming, intelligent, and a lot of that is maturity."
And so, on a Tuesday night in March, you could almost see the ashes falling away as Meyer shed tears of joy at Dartmouth's Ivy title-clinching win, and rose up a ladder to cut down the nets at Leede Arena.
* * *
After another summer of training, this time in New York City while completing a marketing internship, Meyer has finally made it back in uniform and on the court. A three-point specialist, she is a spark off the bench who still sits near the coaches and offers advice, a holdover from last season's sideline role.
Still, who could blame her for feeling uncertain about even her next step?
"I went into the year expecting nothing and trying to make it through the Cincinnati game [on Nov. 29 in Ohio]," said Meyer. "I had to prepare myself mentally for the fact that I might get shut down again. I'm still in pain, but with only five weeks left, I have to make the most of every minute."
So far, she's exceeded her individual expectations for her senior campaign and hopes to lead Dartmouth back to the NCAA Tournament. At minimum, Meyer will leave Dartmouth with at least two Ivy League Championships and three postseason appearances. Determined not to let her injuries define her career, she'll let her work ethic, leadership and loyalty be her impression on the program.
"I've grown up a lot here," she said. "It's how you handle the ravines in life that gets you through it. My sophomore year was a black hole and I dug my way out of it somehow."
"I might not get the accolades, but I have a drive and determination that I hope I can leave behind."
The ashes have faded away, the player has risen above, and the only flame left is a passion for the game that burns brightly as ever within.
Players Mentioned
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/ Women's Basketball
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/ Women's Basketball
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