2020 Pirate Player Preview: McKenna Minter

Date: August 20, 2020

By: Heaven Hill

Heidi Woodard/Omaha World-Herald

For Seton Hall’s newest freshman McKenna Minter, basketball is her everything. From playing with her twin sister, Bri, since the age of six at a local YMCA in North Carolina, she has always strived to get better. Her father Mike, a two-time national champion in football at Nebraska and ex-Carolina Panther in his own right, instilled values like teamwork and selflessness in them from day one and it shows every time she steps on the court.

Family isn't defined only by last name or blood. It's defined by commitment and love. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/vewnhNwrtm

— kenna minter (@kennamint06) January 24, 2017

Hailing from Lincoln Northeast High School, Minter shredded through the competition immediately in her freshman season; the team went 28-2 as she was named to the All-Nebraska basketball team, becoming only the third freshman to ever receive that honor. Her sophomore season was unfortunately cut short with a torn ACL, but she rebounded strong over the last two years to say the least. All throughout her senior season, she put up phenomenal performances night in and night out, willing her team to victory.

Now, after closing out her career with almost 1,700 career points and another All-State selection, she looks to take the Big East by storm. After an offseason with a ton of roster movement, how will Minter find ways to contribute for the Pirates? Let’s break it down.

Her shot-creating and slashing ability are second to none

Ross Miller/Lincoln Journal Star

Looking at the mainstays from Seton Hall’s backcourt last season, Mya Jackson and Lauren Park-Lane, they both provide excellent long-range shooting and playmaking, respectively. With the departures of Shadeen Samuels and Alexis Lewis, Coach Bozzella and his staff knew they’d have to load up on scorers for next season to stay afloat. Judging from their acquisitions of Minter and JuCo transfer Curtessia Dean among others, the Pirates have more than enough offensive firepower for next year.

There’s a clip of her early-season performance against Millard South. We’ll discuss Minter’s defensive prowess in a little bit (she had four steals that game), but on the third and fourth plays shown, we immediately see her showcase her unique athleticism and flexibility as she contorts around the defense and finishes through the contact for tough buckets. That’s not easy, but she makes it look so simple.

In that video of Minter’s performance in the district final, we see that tantalizing shot-creating ability similar to what Lewis provided for the Pirates last season. Sure, you’d like for your team to score efficiently in the flow of the offense, but sometimes, it’s late in the game and you need a player who can hit tough shots. As you can see,  Minter can offer that skill.

She averaged 24 points-per-game as a senior, scoring in a variety of ways from all over the court. Although three-point shooting isn’t necessarily a strong suit, she’s no slouch from behind the arc; she hit four threes against Westside and three against Omaha Burke, showing you can’t just force her to drive. Furthermore, she averaged over three assists her last season at Lincoln Northeast as well, so her playmaking, while not perfect, is a solid asset.

All in all, we see that Minter is a terrific slasher, using her agility and nimbleness to maneuver around defenders with a variety of moves. Once she notices the defense is playing back to limit her driving to the basket, she unleashes a nifty crossover or step back to keep them guessing as she pulls up. With the Pirates rotation looking very different next season, Coach Bozzella could look to Minter for an offensive spark.

Now, let’s take a look at what she can do on the other side of the ball.

McKenna might be a better defender than her dad

Mike Minter, like we mentioned earlier, was a two-time national champion at Nebraska in the 1990s and was drafted in the second round by the Carolina Panthers in 1997. He finished his college career with seven interceptions (including five and a touchdown in 1996) and in the NFL he wasn’t too shabby either. He had 18 tackles in the Super Bowl against New England, on a broken foot no less.

In his 9 years with the Panthers, Minter had almost 800 tackles, 9.5 sacks, 15 forced fumbles, eight fumble recoveries, 15 interceptions, a franchise-record 421 return yards, and four defensive touchdowns. Apparently, having preternatural defensive instincts must be a genetic thing for the Minter family because the newest Seton Hall Pirate is just as dominant on that end as he was.

Minter racked up a ridiculous 13 (!) steals in those games against Lincoln East and Lincoln Southeast, just putting on an absolute clinic defensively. You can see in the clips she is almost always the right place at the right time, jumping the passing lane with her top-notch reaction time.

Not only that, but she is a phenomenal on-ball defender, picking the pockets of whoever is unlucky enough to be dribbling near her. She had games with five and six steals as well, against Marian and Lincoln North Star, respectively; Minter is no fluke on that end of the court and she proves it.

In this game in the first round of the district playoffs, we see Minter doing her best Dikembe Mutombo impression. Tallying four blocks (one was counted as a block but it was really a tipped post-entry pass), she showed how she can impact a game in so many ways. Fast forward to the 0:24-second mark of that clip and look at Minter’s recognition of the play. She notices how the offense breaks Lincoln Northeast’s zone by getting the ball to the middle of the defense, then she completely abandons the shooter in the corner (realizing her teammate will then sprint there from the wing) and she gets the block as a help defender.

That is how you get playing time as a freshman on a Division I roster: being able to read an offense and trust your teammates while putting yourself in position to make smart, winning plays. Minter is a menace defensively, playing well above her listed height at 5-foot-7-inches. Her athleticism is a tremendous help on that end, and she uses it to wreak havoc.

So, after dominating all the high schools in the Lincoln, Neb.-area for three seasons, McKenna Minter travels to South Orange looking to make her mark. With her impressive handle, adept finishing ability, and elite defense, she could potentially find a spot in the rotation immediately, like Jackson and Park-Lane did last year.

Time will tell if that becomes true, but Minter has almost all the tools to do so. Oh, and if she becomes a lights-out three-point shooter, the Big East could be in big trouble. Let’s see what Minter is made of.

Heaven Hill is an Assistant Sports Director for WSOU Sports, and can be reached at heaven.hill@student.shu.edu.

Posted in: Sports, Women's Basketball, WSOU