Gustafson: A big scorer from a tiny town

IOWA CITY - If you're good enough, you'll be discovered, no matter where you're from.

Megan Gustafson is proof of that.

Gustafson, who orally committed Friday to play women's basketball at the University of Iowa, comes from a town (Port Wing, Wis.) of about 350. She is one of 47 students at South Shore High School, one of 10 in the Class of 2015.

'In eighth grade, we didn't have enough girls for a team,” she recalled.

So she played on the boys' team.

A 6-foot-4 post who already ranks No. 7 on the Wisconsin all-time scoring chart with 2,102 points (with a season to go), Gustafson picked the Hawkeyes over Wisconsin and Indiana, among others.

Gustafson is difficult to defend, and not easy to reach. Cellular service in her remote area - along the south shore of Lake Superior, a bit east of Duluth, Minn. - is "spotty,” she said Sunday.

But still, the Hawkeyes found her.

'I've known them for some time,” she said. 'Their program is great. I had a good feeling once I stepped on their campus.

'Plus, it's only an hour and a half from my sister.”

Emily Gustafson, a 2013 South Shore graduate, now plays at Upper Iowa University in Fayette.

The Gustafson sisters led South Shore to the state tournament in 2013. Last year, the Cardinals went 26-1 and fell one game short of the small-school final four.

As a junior, Gustafson averaged 29.3 points and 18.9 points, leading the state in both categories. She also posted 5.9 blocks per contest.

A student with a GPA above 4.0, Gustafson intends to major in business at Iowa.

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