Let’s give a warm William and Mary Welcome to Danielle McTeer, a 6-foot wing from nearby Hampton, Va., a rising senior at Hampton High School and a reigning Class 4 state champion (and First Team All-State) with the Crabbers.
McTeer is the first player committed to our 2021 Tribe women’s basketball recruiting class, and Brendan and I are super excited to welcome her into the William and Mary community.
McTeer announced her commitment Thursday, Aug. 6, on Twitter, having received an offer from head coach Ed Swanson and assistant coaches Mary Gleason and Michelle Kurowski just three days earlier, Monday, Aug. 3.
“First, I would like to thank all of the coaches during this process who recruited me,” McTeer wrote. “Thank you to all the coaches who have been a part of my journey, especially my high school coaches and trainers who continue to push me to be the best person that I can be every day. With that being said, I’ve decided to further my education and basketball career at William & Mary! Thank you Coach Swanson, Coach Gleason, and Coach Kurowski!”
“GO TRIBE!!!”
What drew McTeer to William and Mary over that short three-day period was our College’s great reputation for academics coupled with our strong women’s basketball program.
Not only did McTeer average 13 points and 8.2 rebounds per game last season as a junior — those numbers rose to 19.3 points and 14 rebounds per game during the regional playoffs — but she also achieved a 4.62 GPA, a strong academic record she is proud of and hopes to continue at our College.
“I think my favorite part [about William and Mary] is just the academic piece and the basketball piece, because for me, I think throughout the process, the hardest thing was finding a school that fit me academically and basketball-wise,” McTeer said in an interview over Zoom. “A lot of schools that I got recruited by — you know, I loved all the coaches, I loved the girls, but I think that academically it wasn’t the best fit for me… But when William and Mary offered me, I was so excited because the academic program is so great and the team is great and the coaches were great. Everything fit me there. It was just a really, really great for me.”
With her grades, McTeer ranks second in her Hampton senior class.
Previously, in October 2019, McTeer had received an offer from Brown and committed to play for the Bears. She planned to go much farther afield than nearby Williamsburg, Va., for college, expecting to drive almost 11 hours to Providence, R.I., to attend Brown. But an unexpected turn of events in the spring forced McTeer to de-commit to Brown and reassess her options: the resignation of Brown women’s basketball coach Sarah Behn, who recruited McTeer in the fall and left without warning Monday, March 23.
“The head coach had resigned, and I didn’t know,” McTeer said of the incident. “I found out on Twitter like everybody else. Like I was scrolling one day — just looking like anybody else would be looking on Twitter — and I found out she resigned. So that was hard because I was one of her recruits, so at the moment I was just like, ‘Wow, no one really told me.’ I had no clue about what was happening for me, and I think that just kinda left a bad taste in my mouth, like, ‘Is this who I wanna be playing for? Is this the program that I wanna choose for the next four years?’ And they didn’t even tell me that the head coach was gonna resign. It just led me to de-commit and I think find the better fit, which I did. I’m glad that I did.”
For McTeer, the process of committing and then de-committing to Brown left her few options, far fewer offers than she would’ve received otherwise had schools been aware she was still available for recruitment — which she was all throughout the spring.
McTeer received offers from Morehead State, St. Bonaventure, Stetson, Bethune-Cookman, Radford, Howard and Hampton, her local school.
Of those choices, William and Mary was by far the best option, McTeer said.
“Previously, I had [committed and] de-committed to Brown,” McTeer said. “William and Mary was also a school I was considering at the time. I loved the school when I went on campus. I loved all the coaches. I liked all the girls. So that wasn’t new to me. I loved the school, and I think I rethought about it, because at first I did wanna be somewhat farther away from home. But I think doing it a second time, I realized that being near home was better for me. Williamsburg is like down the street, 30 minutes, so I love the fact that I can have family come to my games. That was a big part, too.”
“At first, I was like, ‘It’d be nice to get away, go far away,’ McTeer added. “But Brown’s like 11 hours away, so I don’t think I really sat and processed that … I think just going to a closer school is better for me personally.”
During recruitment — her second go-around — McTeer began speaking with Swanson, Gleason and Kurowski a lot more. She had spoken to them a little bit previously, prior to committing and de-committing to Brown, but she found herself increasingly drawn to William and Mary and made a concerted effort to learn more about the College, campus life and the women’s basketball program.
Over Zoom, McTeer also spoke with rising senior Nyla Pollard, the veteran leader of the team, and rising junior Eva Hodgson, the team’s powerhouse guard and breakout star. The two answered questions about William and Mary and gave McTeer an even more favorable impression of the College and the women’s basketball program.
“I spoke to Eva and I spoke to Nyla a lot, when I came asking questions and just trying to get familiar with the program, the coaches, the school itself,” McTeer said. “I think I spoke to Nyla for an hour, an hour and a half on the phone, and we had a long conversation. She was just like, ‘Girl, I love this school. You should definitely come.’ Just giving me everything that I could even ask for and more. That was great.”
With her commitment to William and Mary now public, McTeer said she hopes to make an impact on the court as soon she arrives two seasons from now. Her eyes, she said, are set on winning the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament and advancing to the NCAA.
“I think I’m looking forward to growing with a new team, starting over, just getting more experiences,” McTeer said. “You know, college basketball is definitely one of my dreams. It’s always been one of my dreams to play, so I’m just excited overall to be there and start a new role, come in and contribute as much as possible as a freshman. I know it’s hard to do, but we’ve seen people do it in the past, like Eva, who did great her freshman year, Nyla did great her freshman year. So just really to come in, do the best I can, contribute everything that I have to do the team and help win a CAA championship.”
For McTeer, a CAA championship would add another impressive title to her already formidable basketball resume.
Last season, she and Hampton (26-1) won the Virginia High School League’s Class 4 state championship after an impressive postseason run ended in strange consequences. It was the Crabbers’ first statewide girls basketball championship in 13 years.
McTeer and the Crabbers trounced Hanover 58-31 in the VHSL state quarterfinals Friday, March 6, and they edged out Loudoun Valley 54-49 in the semifinals Tuesday, March 10, to challenge Monacan (25-2). But as they prepared to play the Chiefs in the championship game, the VHSL canceled the match and declared Monacan and Hampton co-champions because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“And we kept reading the news, and the first thing that happened was, the VHSL was like, “I don’t know if we’re gonna have family and friends,’” McTeer said. “So we were upset because we were about to win our first state championship as a team and no one’s gonna be there. But at least we get to play. And then the next thing you know is, no one’s gonna play, everyone’s gonna be called co-champions. So that was just really hard for everybody to deal with at the moment, because we worked so hard to get to that moment, especially for our seniors that we had. We had four seniors, so they were definitely heartbroken about the choice that the VHSL made, but we understood because of safety reasons.”
Regardless of the ending — a storybook finish cut short on the last page, the scene of the final battle between Hampton and Monacan — McTeer and the Crabbers happily took home the Class 4 state title, even if they had to attach the prefix “co-” before “champion.”
Coming into William and Mary two seasons from now, in the fall of 2021, McTeer said she hopes not only for a competitive environment at Kaplan Arena, but also for a racially sensitive and supportive campus culture.
“I think I hope to arrive to a very inclusive culture,” McTeer said, “so people who just accept me for me, not skin color, not how I talk. Just people who accept me how I am. And I think as I go there, just to make sure that we treat everyone equal. Skin color, racism and all that stuff, it’s just kinda, to me, outdated. I feel like we should have passed all that stuff by now. But I feel like just an inclusive culture where we love and treat everyone with respect, equality and love.”
Speaking to local high school sports reporter Marty O’Brien for The Virginia Gazette, McTeer voiced support last month for the WNBA players boycotting games and protesting police brutality in the wake of George Floyd’s killing in Minneapolis and Jacob Blake’s near-fatal shooting in Kenosha, Wis.
“I’m proud that the WNBA players were all on the same page and made such a big statement,” McTeer said to O’Brien. “A lot of people weren’t really familiar with everything going on in the country with police brutality.”
“I feel like the awareness part is so important, because we all become more sensitive to the things that are happening and are talking,” she added. “When you’re trying to make a change, that’s a big step, and it’s a really, really, really good thing right now.”
Her role models, she added during our interview, were LeBron James and Candace Parker for the Los Angeles Sparks.
With her commitment to William and Mary — a 327-year-old institution whose legacy has roots in slavery and whose administration recently announced a new Memorial to African Americans Enslaved by William & Mary — McTeer said she hoped to broach the difficult conversations on race and be a leader on campus.
“I think just by conversations,” McTeer said. “I think talking about it is something people are gonna be uncomfortable with, but it’s conversation that needs to be had. It’s conversation that everyone needs to hear. Whether it’s uncomfortable or not, it’s happening in our world. And I think just that if people just understood and took the time to sit down and just hear what people have to do, we’d be in a lot of different places right now.”
In addition, McTeer said she hoped to join Black student organizations on campus and become involved in campus activism, finding time between class and practice.
For Tribe basketball fans, McTeer wanted you to know one thing — she cannot wait to meet you all.
“I love people,” McTeer said. “I’m a people person. I love to talk. After a game or before a game, if anyone wanted to talk, have a conversation, I’m always willing to talk to people. I think I just love being there. Love the energy. Love the fact that I have people supporting me who don’t even know me personally. I love to cook. I love to read books and learn about almost anything. I’m just a very open and free person, that’s just who I am.”
Like with many players before her, McTeer’s journey to Tribe hoops will cap off an interesting athletic career, full of life’s funny twists and turns.
“Before I started playing basketball actually, I did gymnastics and dancing,” McTeer said. “My mom forced me actually. I think dancing and gymnastics just wasn’t for me. I was very uncoordinated, and then I started getting really tall. So I was like, ‘Why not play basketball?’ And then I started in seventh grade, and ever since then I’ve just kept working hard and working out, and I fell in love with it. And that’s how I kinda ended up here.”
McTeer’s best qualities, she said, were her loyalty and her empathy.
“Yeah, but I can turn it off a little bit and not be as nice when we play,” McTeer warned, promising to bring great energy and intensity to William and Mary when she arrived.
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Welcome to the Tribe, Danielle! Congratulations on your decision — very well-made! We’re very excited to see you play two seasons from now, and so are your future teammates. See you soon.