Big city and Big Ten adjustments
The transition to college didn’t come without a little culture shock for Gustafson. Iowa City isn’t New York or Los Angeles, but it may as well have been.
As Iowa prepared for an international trip during the summer of Gustafson’s freshman season, Bluder noticed how quiet Gustafson was in group settings.
“I kind of worried about her interaction with the team, so I asked her about it. She said there were more people on our basketball team than she had in her entire senior class in high school,” Bluder said. “Her graduating class all fit in one selfie. This was completely different. It was a huge adjustment for her.”
The growth process continued once the season began and Gustafson was contending with a higher level of play in the Big Ten Conference.
“Coming in as a freshman, I was like a deer in the headlights,” Gustafson said. “There was definitely a learning curve for me as a player.”
To scale the mountain, Gustafson did what she knew best. She went to work.
She focused on the little details, the fundamentals that can be overlooked in favor of splashy, free-flowing offense.
Gustafson obsessed about her footwork and post positioning. She studied angles and defensive alignments.
“Megan doesn’t have a coast speed. She is always going 100 percent every practice, every possession and every play,” Bluder said. “It doesn’t matter if you are up. It doesn’t matter if you are down. She works just as hard in any situation.”
It’s been that way since Gustafson first picked up a basketball. Her parents both attended South Shore High and played at the Division III level.
Her father, Clendon, is the principal and district administrator at South Shore and her mother, Eva, is a physical therapist at the school.
Students at South Shore all play multiple sports, otherwise the school wouldn’t have enough athletes to field teams.
Gustafson played basketball, volleyball and ran track. Her first year of basketball was in the second grade when she played with fifth and sixth graders.
“I can still remember her first basket. She ran down the court and had her hand up a little bit. They threw it to her and she turned around and scored. Everyone in the crowd went crazy,” Clendon Gustafson said. “From that moment on, she would post up and be waving furiously for the ball. She was so excited.”
As Gustafson grew older, the waving wasn’t as necessary and the baskets came much easier.
Gustafson realized she needed to face more quality competition and gain more national exposure once she reached high school.
She joined an AAU team in Menomonie, Wisconsin, a three-hour drive one way from Port Wing.
College recruiters began taking notice of Gustafson at showcase tournaments while she continued to dominate at South Shore.
Gustafson averaged 40.3 points and 19 rebounds as a senior. She set state high school scoring records for a single game (64 points), single season (1,127) and career (3,229).
“It was not as easy to get opportunities playing at a small school, so I had to keep working and never give up. That always drove me to keep playing hard,” Gustafson said. “It also made me more humble, and that is something I try to keep with me wherever I go.”