Princeton star Abby Meyers commits to Maryland

Meyers, a 6’ senior, was an AP Honorable Mention All-American selection this season and the unanimous Ivy League Player of the Year after leading Princeton to an undefeated Ivy League season, an Ivy League Tournament title and a first-round NCAA Tournament win over Kentucky. She averaged 17.9 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.4 steals and 0.5 blocks per game while shooting 45.0% from the field and 39.3% from 3-point range.

Meyers will have one year of eligibility at Maryland after a circuitous Princeton career in which she took a year off of school after her freshman season in 2017-18, then had her sophomore season cut short and her junior season canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She also adapted to a coaching change after Courtney Banghart left for North Carolina in 2019. But Meyers weathered the ups and downs—and the extra time as a college player—to become extremely consistent and well-rounded and develop as a leader.

In March, Meyers told The Next that she decided to play a final season in 2022-23 because she wanted to soak up all she could from her college career. She has heard from friends in the workforce and her twin sister Olivia, who is currently pursuing a master’s degree at the University of Calgary, about how much they miss team sports and the college environment. However, due to Ivy League rules, Abby cannot play at Princeton next season as a graduate student.

“For me, yes, I’ve played three seasons of basketball, but I came to Princeton to one, graduate, but also play four seasons,” she said. “So I want to make sure that I finish that year of eligibility because I feel like I would be cutting myself short of another great opportunity … I want to be able to keep playing on a team where everyone’s super competitive and wants to win and be better and just be a part of that atmosphere.”

This season, Meyers was one of the most efficient scorers in the country, according to CBB Analytics. She is a true three-level scorer: She shot over 70% at the rim, which ranked in the 95^th percentile nationally; loves to take and make creative mid-range shots; and led the Ivy League in 3-point percentage.

“When we locked down and played great defense, they gave the ball to Abby, and she doesn’t even really look at the rest. She can create her own shot,” then-Harvard head coach Kathy Delaney-Smith said after Meyers scored 22 points against Harvard in the Ivy League Tournament semifinals. “… Abby Meyers has [the athleticism] where, regardless of whether you beat your defense or regardless of whether the play worked, you can elevate and shoot a jump shot. … Not many teams have those kind of players.”

Against Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament, Meyers scored a career-high 29 points on four 2-pointers in the lane, three mid-range twos, two 3-pointers and nine free throws. Indiana head coach Teri Moren called that performance “terrific” ahead of her team’s second-round matchup with the Tigers, which ended up being a one-point Indiana win. “To say that she is on 10 all the time would be an understatement as far as her activity, being able to step out,” Moren said. “She has a quick trigger. But she also has a little spin, floater game, up-and-under game. She can score in a lot of different ways. She has a lot of tricks in her bag.”

“It’s going to take our whole team to slow her down,” added Indiana senior Ali Patberg.

Meyers finished with 11 points against Indiana despite early foul trouble, and Indiana will see a lot more of her next season in the Big Ten. The Maryland social media team made sure to lead with a clip of her scoring on Indiana in a video welcoming her to College Park.

Returners Shyanne Sellers and Faith Masonius also welcomed Meyers to Maryland in comments on her Instagram post. “Yes ma’ammmm,” Sellers wrote, adding two fire emojis.

A native of Potomac, Maryland, Meyers had been rumored to want to play her final season close to home. The Xfinity Center is just a 13-mile drive from her high school, Walt Whitman, and she said in Maryland’s press release that she grew up attending women’s basketball games at the Xfinity Center. “I want to help continue to build the winning legacy for the one and only Terp Nation,” she added.

“THE DMV LEGEND RETURNS,” Princeton junior Lexi Weger quipped in an Instagram comment.

Meyers joins two other incoming transfers, Lavender Briggs and Elisa Pinzan, and the trio will help shore up a Terps lineup that is losing seven players to graduation or transfer. Of note, one of the graduating players is Katie Benzan, a graduate transfer from Harvard who also happens to be an excellent 3-point shooter.

“We’re so happy to provide Abby a homecoming here at Maryland,” Terps head coach Brenda Frese said in the team’s release. “When we can add a conference player of the year, a winner, a leader, a great teammate and someone who thrives in the big moments, it’s exciting. Everyone knows Katie Benzan was a spectacular Ivy League to Maryland move and I’m just as excited about what Abby will bring … What she’s accomplished so far is impressive and she’s not done yet.”

Meyers indicated in March that she planned to pursue a master’s degree in business at her next school after graduating with a public policy degree from Princeton.

Meyers was the headliner of the eight Ivy League players to enter the transfer portal for the 2022-23 season and is the third to choose a school. She becomes the eighth Ivy player in the past three seasons to commit to a Power 5 program and the third to choose a top-25-caliber program, following Benzan and former Princeton and North Carolina point guard Carlie Littlefield. The full list of current Ivy League graduate transfers is below:

Meyers will now take her three Ivy League titles to the Big Ten and try to make it four-for-four. And, after Maryland and Meyers were a combined 1-3 against Indiana last season, there’s work to be done in that department, too.