Hola, Paris: Former Hawkeye Gustafson to play for Spain in Olympics
With dual citizenship, 2019’s national player of the year adds a unique chapter to her whirlwind basketball career
Even when their children are grown, it’s not unusual for parents to still wonder where in the world their kids might be.
Megan Gustafson’s parents can totally be forgiven for thinking that somewhat frequently. Basketball has taken former Iowa Hawkeye and current Las Vegas Ace of the WNBA around the world and then some.
Poland, Greece, England. A tournament in Hungary. And in the U.S., it’s been Dallas, Washington, Phoenix and now Las Vegas.
And if that isn’t exhausting enough to ponder over the course of five years, later this month Gustafson will be in Paris to play for the Spanish national team.
So yeah, for Gustafson, basketball has indeed been a journey. But that last bit about the Spanish team might be the most eyebrow-raising one of all.
Quick facts: No, she’s not Spanish. Yes, she is learning more Spanish to improve on what she took in high school. No, she hasn’t played professionally in Spain. But yes, she is on the Spanish national women’s basketball team. More on that in a second.
“It’s been an interesting journey but I love it,” Gustafson said.
All of this is light years away from her tiny Wisconsin town of Port Wing on Lake Superior, where her high school graduation class had 11 students. From there she made her way to Iowa, where the 6-foot 4-inch post player was a key part of lifting the Hawkeyes into the national spotlight before most people had even heard of Caitlin Clark.
In 2018-19, Gustafson was the nation’s leading scorer, averaging 27.8 points and 13.4 rebounds in the Hawkeyes’ Elite 8 season. She was named national player of the year and her jersey hangs in the rafters of Carver-Hawkeye Arena among Iowa’s all-time greats.
But to make it as a pro, Gustafson had to take another big step: She changed her game. The player who was known for her strong post presence, who went viral with the famed “Mikan drill” of extraordinary shooting under the basket, became a run-and-gun player who even sometimes shoots a three-pointer. (I tuned in to a WNBA game a couple years ago and thought I somehow got my players confused when I saw who I thought was Megan Gustafson shooting a three-pointer.)
She hasn’t turned into Clark, but just has a new weapon she’ll sometimes use. With the Aces this season, Gustafson has made seven of them (35 of 108 for her career). Overall, she averages 2.8 points and 2.1 rebounds in 9 minutes for the two-time defending WNBA champions.
“In college I shot two three-pointers and that was because I was forced to with a shot clock,” she said. “I love adding new things to my game. It’s not just posting up, it’s mid-range [jump shots], threes, but also not getting too far away from my game. At the end of the day, I am a post player so I need to work hard underneath the basket.”
Like many WNBA players, Gustafson has played abroad the rest of the year to build her game and, of course, make more money. While her WNBA career began in Dallas after the Wings drafted her, her international career began in Poland. She spent two seasons there before heading to Greece. Then it was England, with the London Lions last winter and spring. It was a great fit; she was MVP of the British Basketball League and helped the Lions to the Women’s EuroCup championship, the first European basketball championship for any British team, men’s or women’s.
“I’ve had five years of overseas experience and I like it, but it’s not the be-all end-all,” she said. “I don’t need 10 years of it, I just wanted to do it for a while and stay in the WNBA for as long as I can.”
It was her international play that caught the eye of the Spanish national team officials, who contacted Gustafson’s agent to see if she had any interest in gaining a passport and become a nationalized Spanish citizen in order to join the team.
Acquiring dual citizenship is not an unusual move for athletes, and is also convenient for those competing abroad because teams usually limit the number of Americans that can be on a roster. Gustafson’s Aces coach, Becky Hammon, played on the Russian Olympic team in 2008 and 2012 and her Aces teammate Tiffany Hayes will compete for Azerbaijan in the 3x3 competition.
Gustafson joined Spain for the Olympic qualifying tournament this winter, averaging a team-high 14.3 points. Spain, ranked No. 4 in the world, will begin its Olympic play July 28 against China.
Team USA had never reached out to her, Gustafson said, and since she’d never represented the U.S. in the past, she could join Spain’s team. The chance to be in the Olympics is great, she said, but there’s also something more to it.
“Having a long-term relationship with a team, being part of something that is bigger than myself, I haven’t had that since college,” she said. “And I liked the family atmosphere of it. It was a whole package deal that was important to me.”
As she travels the world, Gustafson makes sure to have her own family with her – her corgi, Pancake.
“I don’t sign an overseas contract unless Pancake is in my contract,” Gustafson said. “They have to make sure the apartment is approved for her. We’re a package deal.”
Pancake has become a celebrity in her own right, with her own X/Twitter account and followers. Gustafson has also hired an artist the past three seasons to design a shoe featuring Pancake that she’ll wear for a few games.
Gustafson wanted to take Pancake to Paris, but it was too difficult to pull off. Instead, her baby will be hanging out in Las Vegas at the Aces’ official pet-sitter who looks after other team members’ pups with a swimming pool and big yard.
Pancake isn’t the only one living the good life in Las Vegas. The Aces have a decidedly Iowa look to them with Gustafson, former Hawkeye Kate Martin and former UConn player Kiah Stokes, from Cedar Rapids. Throw in superstar A’ja Wilson and three other members of Team USA, and Gustafson is having the time of her life.
Her minutes and numbers are down from her best WNBA season – last year at Phoenix, averaging 8 points in 15 minutes – but Gustafson doesn’t mind.
“It’s been really fun. These are the best players in the world. I’m trying to be a sponge, soaking it all in,” she said. “I just need to be ready to do whatever my coach needs me to do, whatever my teammates need me to do. Whether it’s 20 minutes or 2 minutes or anything in between, I just want to be ready. I want a championship. Whatever it takes.”
Cyclones head to Paris, too
Two international players from Iowa State will be in Paris representing their countries.
Bridget Carleton, the Cyclones’ first Big 12 Player of the Year in 2019, will compete for the second time for her native Canada. She has competed for her country’s national team since 2013.
"From the first time I talked to Bridget she was focused on representing Canada in the Olympics," Iowa State Coach Bill Fennelly said in a statement. "She was a great player at Iowa State, and we take great pride that we have been a part of her journey. I am so proud of her and look forward to watching her in Paris this summer."
Lauren Mansfield, a guard who was the Cyclones’ co-captain in 2011-12, will be on Australia’s 3x3 team.
Jane Burns is a former sports and features writer for the Des Moines Register, as well as other publications and websites. She’s a past winner of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association’s Mel Greenberg Award for her coverage of women’s basketball. Over the course of her career she’s covered pretty much everything, which is why her as-yet-to-be-written memoir will be called “Cheese and Basketball: Stories From a Reporter Who Has Covered Everything.”
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