In the last year, she has gone from Heinz Field to Jadwin Gym. She traded in her black and yellow – the colors she has worn since she was six – for the orange and black of the Princeton Tigers. She left Pittsburgh with the toughness of her father and the natural skill of her mother.

This winter, 6-foot-1-inch Meghan Cowher, the daughter of Pittsburgh Steelers’ head coach Bill Cowher, is quickly distinguishing herself in the Ivy League for the Princeton women’s basketball team.

Well, maybe the name part isn’t true.

‘My mom was the more gifted athlete,’ Cowher said. ‘So I think I inherited that from her, fortunately. But my father always had the mental aspect to his game. In that way, I’m kind of like him.’

Cowher, the oldest of three basketball-playing sisters, knew she wanted to play her collegiate ball at Princeton even before head coach Richard Barron knew he wanted her.

‘I sent an assistant to go see her (in her) junior year,’ Barron said. ‘Meg had a bad game. So the assistant came back and said ‘I don’t know if she can really help us.’ Meg came here later and impressed the staff. At the time, that assistant was on maternity leave and the running joke was that we were going to have to fire her for the misjudge.’

Cowher has continued to impress her coaches this winter. The 18-year-old leads the Tigers in minutes (32.2), points (12.8) and rebounds (5.7) per game and has started all 12 games for Princeton (7-5).

The accolades have been nearly as consistent as the freshman’s game. Thus far, she has earned Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors four times in seven weeks. But don’t tell the blue-chip recruit about it.

‘There’s a lot I need to improve on,’ Cowher said. ‘It’s kind of been exposed coming to the collegiate level. I need to work on a lot of my outside game – ball handling, shooting, just being more consistent.’

If there is much improvement to be made, opponents should beware. In a game last week, Cowher tallied 28 points and grabbed nine rebounds against St. Peter’s. A couple nights later against Army, she had 19 points and 12 rebounds as Princeton won its fifth straight.

‘She’s very athletic,’ Barron said. ‘She’s a very explosive jumper, light on her feet and she runs the floor very well. And she’s got a very soft and accurate shot to go with that. She is going to improve her ball handling skills and her perimeter skills and be even more of a match-up problem.’

At 6-foot-1, Barron says Cowher has already caused numerous match-up problems for opposing teams because she plays on the wing and not in the paint.

What she doesn’t have is the jaw, the scowl or 130 career NFL wins – her father’s signature scowl and emotional tirades have made him one of the most recognizable people in the Steel City of Pittsburgh.

Her mother, Kaye, is a former professional basketball player for the New York Stars and New Jersey Gems from the now-defunct Women’s Professional Basketball League. She starred at North Carolina State in the late 1970s. There, she met and married the three-year starting linebacker from the Wolfpack football team.

Bill, an NFL icon, has held back from endorsements and other financial opportunities for years. Since he became the coach of the Steelers – Meghan was in third grade – the man who has coached in a Super Bowl has been more caught up with being a father.

‘He’s just a regular dad when it comes to Meg,’ Barron said. ‘He knows what coaches go through. He was very respectful of the process. At no point did he ever try to tell me ‘this is what you should do.’ He was very humble, modest, he brought her to camp and would sit and watch from the stands. If you didn’t know who he was, you wouldn’t have been able to pick him out.’

What about fans seeing the normally animated NFL coach sitting in the stands?

‘I went through school all in the same place,’ Meghan Cowher said, ‘so I think the shock value sort of wore off. By the time I was in high school, around the same people, they kind of knew him as just my father. That’s something that he really treasured. He could go to our games and just watch, as a parent, and not really be bothered.’

Cowher plans to attend most, if not all, of Meghan’s games when his season concludes.

Three years ago, Princeton finished 2-23. Three years later, with a different coach and a new forward, Princeton is building a name for itself in the Ivy League.

Three years from now?

There may be two Cowher girls dominating the Ivy League. Keep an eye on Lauren, who may be the best athlete in the family.

If the rumors in Austin earlier this week are true, Texas is in trouble. Six-foot-five sophomore forward P.J. Tucker has hinted that he may be academically ineligible when fall grades come out later this week. Tucker leads the Longhorns (14-3, 3-1 Big 12) in minutes, points, rebounds and has started every game this season. If Tucker sits, look for freshman Daniel Gibson to have an increased role on the offensive end.

Published on January 19, 2005 at 12:00 pm