VERMILLION, S.D.—Throughout the first 12 years of her basketball career, South Dakota redshirt-freshman
Megan Bonar only had one basketball coach, her father, Jim. Transitioning to the college game has meant adapting to a new learning style and multiple coaching systems in her first two years on campus.
Bonar surpassed 1,200 points, 500 rebounds and 200 blocks in her four-year career at De Soto High School in Gardner, Kan. She was a four-time all-Frontier League honoree and was named to the Lawrence Journal-World's all-area team four times.
"I had been coached by him for so long, that my dad and I were almost always on the same page," Bonar said. "Coming to South Dakota I had to learn a new way of receiving coaching in addition to learning new terminology and styles."
Bonar, who redshirted her freshman year in 2015-16, has gotten her first opportunity on the court under USD head coach
Dawn Plitzuweit this fall.
"Coach P's system is quite versatile," Bonar described. "She's willing to allow us as players to get a feel for what's going on in the game and make our own decisions."
The new style has the Coyotes off on a 5-1 start to the season as one of 10 NCAA DI teams with three true road wins thus far. The Coyotes are shooting an impressive 47.9 percent from the floor which ranks 14th in the nation.
This year's team also knows how to have fun. After gutting out a tough 61-55 win over UC Riverside, the defending Big West champions, the Coyotes were treated to frozen yogurt after the game. Then after defeating CSU Bakersfield by the largest margin of the season, 75-60, Plitzuweit and her staff rewarded the team with a trip to the Santa Monica Pier.
"Visiting the Santa Monica Pier was the best part of the trip," Bonar said. "I have always seen it in the movies, but getting to take pictures where the scene from Hannah Montana was shot was pretty cool. We had a blast going on rides, grabbing food and bonding off the court."
Bonar described the coaching staff as fun and goofy, but the coaches also know when it was time to buckle down and be serious when preparing for a game.
The lure of a community centered around the University and the Coyotes is what brought Bonar to Vermillion.
"I chose the University of South Dakota for the community environment," Bonar said. "Not only on USD's campus, but in Vermillion in general. The town is incredibly welcoming and the fans are so supportive. I love that feeling. From the moment I arrived on campus, it felt like I was right at home."
The Coyotes host Concordia-St. Paul of the NCAA Div. II Northern Sun Conference at 7 p.m. tonight in the Sanford Coyote Sports Center. The team hits the road again Sunday for the last true road game of non-conference play at Wyoming.
