From home runs to hoops: Megan Grant joins UCLA women's basketball team
The 5-foot-10 Grant will be listed as a guard/forward.
'Basketball was my first love and has always brought out a childlike spirit in me, so putting on this jersey and being a small piece in this historically great program is a dream come true,' Grant said in a statement Friday.
She has been a key contributor for the softball team the last three years. She set the Big Ten single-season record for home runs with 26 and ranked in the top 10 nationally with 81 RBIs and a .933 slugging percentage this past season.
Grant helped the Bruins to consecutive Women's College World Series berths, two Pac-12 Conference regular-season titles and a Pac-12 Tournament title.
'She's arguably the number one softball player in the United States, we're trying to be the number one basketball program in the United States,' UCLA coach Cori Close said. 'There's a mindset crossover with that, so to combine her passion and joy for the game and having her standard of excellence and her mindset for her craft, that's going to be a huge addition to our program.'
Grant was a multi-sport star at Aragon High School in San Mateo, California, where she lettered in softball for four years and women's basketball and volleyball both for three years. Grant averaged 7.8 points and 5.9 rebounds during her prep hoops career.
Softball coach Kelly Inouye-Perez expressed pride in Grant's latest move.
'Our fanbase is familiar with the all-out effort Megan gives on the diamond each and every day, and I have no doubt that will translate to the hardwood,' she said.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
22 minutes ago
- USA Today
Penn State takes top spot in USA TODAY Sports Big Ten power rankings
There is no denying that Penn State is preparing for one of the more anticipated seasons in program history after making a run to the College Football Playoff semifinal last season. The bar has been raised by many for the Nittany Lions, and the hype train continues to be roaring at full steam heading into the 2025 season. That hype continued to rise with the Nittany Lions landing on top of the Big Ten preseason power rankings from USA TODAY Sports college football writer Paul Myerberg. Yes, Penn State comes out ahead of the defending national champion Ohio State Buckeyes and the defending Big Ten champion Oregon Ducks, respectively. That has been the fairly common belief by those around the college football media circles this offseason in part due to a roster returning many key players on each side of the ball, despite losing first-round draft picks in Abdul Carter and Tyler Warren, and adding key transfers to help plug the void at the wide receiver position. The addition of Trebor Pena from Syracuse is considered a major upgrade for an offense that already added a pair of other talented wide receivers in the offseason. Penn State's rise to the top of the Big Ten power rankings is focused largely on the expectations for the offense. The return of Drew Allar at quarterback and both star running backs Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen gives Penn State as solid a returning backfield as we may see this season in all of college football. Penn State's schedule is also moderately favorable, with the biggest challenge coming with a road trip to Ohio State and getting Oregon at home for a primetime whiteout game highlighting the home schedule. According to the power rankings from Myerberg, Penn State will face five of the Big Ten's top-10 teams this season. Three of those games will come at home (Oregon, Indiana, and Nebraska), and the other two will be on the road (at Ohio State and at Iowa). You can see the full Big Ten power rankings from Myerberg via USA TODAY Sports to see how the whole conference looks in 2025. Follow Kevin McGuire on Threads, Bluesky, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. Follow Nittany Lions Wire on X, Facebook, and Threads.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
How good can Rutgers football's offense be? Here's what the unit looks like with camp starting
LAS VEGAS – One of the big questions facing Rutgers football with the Scarlet Knights set to kick off training camp is just how good its offense can be. Rutgers has continuity at quarterback with Athan Kaliakmanis returning. It has an offensive line that's continued to make progress, though it'll be missing a major piece. It has solid wide receivers, and added another via the transfer portal. And it has high-quality running backs, though it has to replace one of the most prolific backs in program history. Coach Greg Schiano is optimistic about the unit's potential, but he's also not glossing over the loss of talent it needs to account for. 'This could be a good offense,' Schiano said in a meeting with local reporters at Big Ten Media Days. 'But everything's got to go just right to be really good. We've got to stay healthy, guys have got to develop at the rate we expect them to.' The Scarlet Knights made substantial progress last season in Kirk Ciarrocca's second year as offensive coordinator. Rutgers averaged 28.9 points per game, the most since 2008. Kaliakmanis was at the middle of that, throwing for 2,696 yards and 18 touchdowns. But so was Kyle Monangai, who rushed for 1,279 yards and 13 touchdowns. Rutgers will undoubtedly miss the standard and example that Monangai, a seventh-round draft pick by the Chicago Bears, on and off the field. 'We lost one of the best players to have played here in Kyle Monangai,' Schiano said. 'Not just his on-field performance – I spoke to some people out in Chicago and they're saying, 'This guy is unbelievable. His preparation, his professionalism.' So we lost a very important player there.' The Scarlet Knights return Antwan Raymond, Ja'shon Benjamin and Sam Brown. They also brought in FAU transfer CJ Campbell Jr. "I feel like we haven't missed a beat," Kaliakmanis said. "We're good. They're working really hard. We have a great running back coach in Coach (Damiere) Shaw. He gets their best out of them every single day. That's all you can ask for." Rutgers at wide receiver needs to replace Dymere Miller and Christian Dremel, but has a talented group returning including Ian Strong, KJ Duff and Ben Black. The Scarlet Knights also added North Texas transfer DT Sheffield. It's also going to help to have Kenny Fletcher back healthy at tight end – the Delran product showed promise at the position after moving over from defensive end, but he suffered a season-ending injury in the sixth game. He caught 20 passes for 137 yards and two touchdowns until the injury. 'We lost a couple (of players), but I think we have a lot of returning players,' Schiano said. 'Kenny's on schedule. We thought Kenny started very well. We added some players that I think can help. We'll see. The O-line has a chance. But I think replacing Hollin is not a little thing.' There's no doubt about that. Pierce, who signed with the Philadelphia Eagles as an undrafted free agent, started 50 consecutive games with the Scarlet Knights. He was an anchor for the line at left tackle. 'Every week you take him for granted – I didn't take him for granted, but a lot of people did,' Schiano said. 'He got better and better and better.' Tyler Needham is likely the leading candidate to take over at left tackle with training camp set to begin, but nothing is guaranteed. If everything does go right, Rutgers' offense has a chance to be highly productive. It's come a long way in the past couple seasons. The Scarlet Knights also substantial talent, but they added some too. How much better it can be will soon be determined. This article originally appeared on Rutgers football: How good can offense be this season?
Indianapolis Star
an hour ago
- Indianapolis Star
Who are Indiana football breakout players for 2025? A 'freak,' a transfer and a bunch on defense
LAS VEGAS — Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti told reporters at Big Ten media days the program has a 'lot of nice pieces' in place going into the 2025 season. The Hoosiers brought back multiple All-Americans on defense (Aiden Fisher and Mikail Kamara along with one of the Big Ten's best corners (D'Angelo Ponds). On offense, they returned one of the country's most productive receivers (Elijah Sarratt) and three starting offensive linemen (Carter Smith, Bray Lynch and Drew Evans). That list doesn't include any of the standout transfers Cignetti added — 3,000-yard passer Fernando Mendoza is garnering a ton of preseason buzz — who have a chance to help the program build on the historic success last season. Those are names most fans know, but there's plenty of potential breakout candidates on the roster beyond those known veterans. At Big Ten media days, three of IU's top returners — Kamara, Fisher and Sarratt — identified players on their side of the ball with the biggest breakout potential: Indiana football linebacker Rolijah Hardy is a 'freak' Fisher's answer is the same as it was at the end of last season when he anticipated a bright future for fellow linebacker Rolijah Hardy, one of the only true freshman on the team last year to have a prominent role outside of special teams. Hardy remains attached at the hip to Fisher as he eyes replacing Jailin Walker in the starting lineup for the Hoosiers. 'He's developing really well, mentally, his mindset has shifted from being that young guy to leading the room, which is really good going forward,' Fisher said. 'I think the game has slowed down for him." The part of his game that didn't need any work was his elite physical tools. 'He's a freak,' Fisher said. 'He can run, he can jump, he can lift. Everything you want from a linebacker, he can do physically.' Hardy was a multi-sport athlete at Lakeland (Florida) High School who earned All-State honors in basketball. Fisher can attest that Hardy hasn't lost a step on the hardwood. 'Bro is pretty good,' Fisher said, with a laugh. 'We did a three-on-three last year, and he stole the show." Indiana football receiver Makai Jackson ready to flip the switch Makai Jackson didn't get to show what he was capable of during spring camp thanks to a lingering hamstring, but his teammate said it's only a matter of time before he makes his presence felt in Bloomington. 'I know what he can do,' Sarratt said. 'I've seen it with my eyes. He's looked great in the summer, and his body been keeping up." Jackson earned third-team All-Sun Belt honors in 2024 with 46 catches for 745 yards (16.2 yards per catch) and five touchdowns. He closed out the season with back-to-back 100-yard performances against James Madison and Georgia Southern. He landed at Appalachian State after spending playing alongside Sarratt as a freshman for St. Frances (Pennsylvania). He's a big play threat — he had 12 catches of 20 yards or more through the air (tied for sixth in the FBS) for 419 yards last season — capable of playing at outside receiver and in the slot. "He's a gamer, once he get in that game or the ball gets in his hands, the switch flips,' Sarratt said. Indiana football defensive end Mikail Kamara surrounded by impact players Kamara cheated a little bit, but he rattled off a long list of breakout candidates on the defensive line that included both underclassmen and veteran transfers. 'I feel like anyone on our defensive line could do it,' Kamara said. He started by hyping up sophomore Mario Landino, a former 3-star signee out of Emmaus High School in Pennsylvania. He got his feet wet last year — he had six tackles, one forced fumble, seven quarterback pressures while playing 140 snaps as a true freshman. 'I'm expecting huge strides from him,' Kamara said. 'He put on about 20 pounds, he's still twitchy and still looks really good.' Indiana has a wide-open competition at the defensive end spot opposite Kamara with Landino competing for playing time with fellow sophomore Daniel Ndukwe and spring transfers Kellan Wyatt and Stephen Daley. Wyatt and Daley hit the ground running while taking part in IU's summer workouts. "They have acclimated really well,' Kamara said. 'I know once we get to camp I'll show them a little bit more specifics as far as the scheme and how they can manipulate what we got going on. Just raw talent? Stephen is a freak, he's athletic, just crazy. Kellan is sharp up top, he can really move well, he's quick and fast. I'm excited to have a good three-man rotation." Kamara is also excited about IU's new duo at defensive tackle, Hosea Wheeler and Tyrique Tucker, who are looking to replace James Carpenter and CJ West. Tucker backed up Carpenter going back to their days at James Madison while Wheeler was a dominant run stuffer last season for Western Kentucky. 'Tyrique, he played a lot of games last year, I expect a lot out of him,' Kamara said. 'Hosea transferred in from WKU, and works his butt off. I just feel it could be a different guy on any given day (making plays).'
