Feb. 18, 2004
by Keight Vincent, Sports Information Intern
As a prep standout and four year MVP at Paideia high school in Decatur, Ga., Megan Isom knew she would play basketball in college, but it never occurred to her that she would end up in her back yard.
“I wasn’t actually recruited by Georgia Tech out of high school, and by my senior year I still had no idea where I wanted to go, but I knew I didn’t want to stay in Atlanta because I had been here my whole life. So, I decided on Tennessee Tech.”
Isom made an immediate impact as a rookie for the Golden Eagles, playing in all 32 games and averaging 6.2 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game while leading the team in steals (34) for the season. Despite her immediate success on the court, the rural atmosphere of Cookeville, Tennessee (population 24,000) was a stark change for the Atlanta native.
“It was real, real, country and a very small town,” said Isom.
Although she knew she wanted to transfer a school in a more urban locale, Isom still didn’t think of Georgia Tech as a potential destination. After making some initial contact with several other schools at the beginning of the transfer process, Georgia Tech finally entered the picture.
Isom and current Tech point guard Alex Stewart had been teammates on the Georgia U-18 team that won the AAU national championship in 1999. By the time of nationals Stewart had already signed a letter of intent to play at Georgia Tech. The Tech coaches came to nationals to recruit younger players and see some of their incoming players, like Stewart, in action. Stewart spoke with the coaches after one game and remembers the impression Isom made on them,
“Megan played great that whole tournament, and I remember talking to the coaches after one of the games and they were like ‘wow, how did we let that kid [Isom] get away?'” said Stewart, “Usually the best players are highly recruited from day one by the top schools in their area, but Megan just slipped under the radar of all the colleges in Georgia”
Isom went on to be named MVP of AAU nationals that year, so when the Tech coaches heard that Isom wanted to transfer they knew that she was a player that could definitely contribute to the program. Isom still needed some persuading, however, to influence her to return to her hometown after spending just a year away. So she talked to Stewart again, who tried to convince her former teammate to join her at Georgia Tech.
“I just told Megan how great the team was and how much fun I had playing here my first year and I told her that Tech was a place that she could really make an impact since our top outside shooter Danielle Donehew had just graduated and we needed someone to fill that roll,” said Stewart.
Stewart’s words had an effect. Isom looked at several other schools, but ultimately decided on Georgia Tech.
Although she was finally on the roster, Isom’s journey towards competing as a Yellow Jacket was far from complete. In accordance with NCAA transfer guidelines, Isom would have to sit out an entire year of competition before becoming eligible to play in any of Tech’s games.
Sitting out is not a concept Isom is familiar with. Barring injury, she has played in every game for every team she has ever been on since middle school. In fact, before transferring to Tech, the last time Isom was sidelined was during the region tournament of her junior year in high school when a custodian was dusting the court between games while Isom and her team were warming up.
“I guess the broom got under me somehow and I tripped and sprained my ankle and I couldn’t play in the game,” said Isom.
The year she would have to sit out at Tech would prove even more frustrating for Isom.
“I hated it,” said Isom, “you have to really love what you’re doing to sit out a whole year and still do all the practicing and conditioning and weights and not be able to play in the games or travel with the team.”
Alex Stewart recalls, “It was real hard for her to transfer to a completely new school and a new team. Megan was real shy at first and it didn’t help that she wasn’t on the road trips with everyone else, so she sort of missed out on some quality team bonding there. Of course, she eventually opened up, and now you’d never be able to tell that she was ever quiet and shy, but that had to have been a rough time for her at the beginning.”
The time out of competition was not without some benefits however.
“You learn to become an observer of the game,” Isom notes, “and you start to realize where the coaches are coming from when you’re watching from the outside. When you’re playing you’re actually involved and sometimes you can’t understand why they say some something. Having that different perspective helps me to see and understand what the coaches are trying to teach us and to use it to make me a better player.”
When she became eligible for competition at the start of the 2001-02 season it did not take long to shake off the dust. Isom was one of only eight Yellow Jackets to play in the 70-74 season-opener loss to Kansas State. In 17 minutes off the bench, Isom tallied 8 points, 3 rebounds and an assist in her Georgia Tech debut.
When asked how she felt subbing in to her first game in over 20 months Isom replied,
“It was a lot of fun; I was sort of the 6th man, the first guard off the bench. At first I was really nervous because I had never been away from the game for such a long period. After all that time off the pressure was a little built up, but that went away pretty quickly once I had been in the game for a few minutes.”
Now the quiet transfer who didn’t go on road trips or dress out for games her entire first year at Tech has not only become the Yellow Jackets’ featured perimeter shooter, but the coaching staff has also made Isom the defensive captain of the team, a vocal role that includes calling out the defensive plays to her teammates during games.
To date this season, Isom has started every game for the Jackets, averaging 28.4 minutes per game along with 9 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game. She has also notched 13 steals, and 8 blocks. Isom leads the team in 3-point field goals (43) in Tech’s 24 games thus far, including a clutch basket from beyond the arc that pulled Georgia Tech to within shouting distance as time was running down in the Yellow Jackets’ recent 58-57 victory over Maryland.
Though only 10 miles separate her high school from her college, both the distance and the time it took Megan Isom to become a Yellow Jacket proved much longer than the average Decatur to Atlanta commute.
