City of Basketball Love

By Dan Arkans (@danarkans)

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Jefferson University head coach Tom Shirley is grateful Haley Meinel is still with the program six years later.

He recruited a defense-first stalwart out of Central Bucks South. Then a funny thing happened: Meinel turned into so much more than just a stopper.

“To be honest, at this point she shouldn’t be here,” Shirley said.” A Division I school should have snatched her up. She should be Division I. But that’s how we succeed — to have a Division I player at the program.”

Meinel had an impressive junior year, averaging 15.7 points, 2.9 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 3.7 steals and 1.1 blocks. She posted season-highs of 31 points (Dec. 31 vs. Felician), seven rebounds (Nov. 22 at East Stroudsburg), six assists (Feb. 14 vs. Georgian Court), five blocks (Dec. 29 at Georgian Court) and 10 steals (March 11 vs. Southern New Hampshire).

She netted her 1,000th career point against Felician and led Division II in steals.
Meinel captured the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year honors, and she earned D2 College Commissioners Association and Women’s Basketball Coaches Association All-America honorable mention, D2CCA All-East Region First Team and NCAA East Regional All-Tournament Team. 

“I want to keep reaching the same old expectations, completing the same awards and going higher,” Meinel said. 

Heading into the 2023-24 season, she has loftier goals for herself and the team.
“I think she saw what she could accomplish last year,” Shirley said. “Her goal is to be first-team All-American. I think she can do it. I think she will duplicate defensive player of the year, conference player of the year.” 

Jefferson posted a record of 28-5 last season, lost to Dominican in the CACC semifinals and had its season come to an end in the NCAA East Regional final.

Meinel’s goals include winning a conference tournament title and getting back to the regional final.

“We have really high expectations this year, almost winning the region and conference last season,” Meinel said. “We have a lot of players coming back, we are a pretty old team.”

“We want to go to the Final Four,” Shirley said. “We lost five games by 12 points. We lost the regional because we had a bad five minutes. It was the noisiest gym I have been to in 42 years. We just couldn’t close it out. This is a really good team. Really good team.”

It is a really good team with Meinel’s defensive dominance at the top of Jefferson’s vaunted zone. The Rams allowed just 54.2 points per game and held opponents to a 35.7% shooting percentage.

“Initially, her defense led to her offense,” Shirley said. “She loves her position on the team. It helps where you like where the coach puts you. Her offensive game grew. The defensive player of the year is not a surprise. She grew into the offensive player of the year. She’s really good.”

Meinel’s biggest accomplishment was off the court, though. The Health Sciences major was named CACC Student Athlete of the Month in March, while also being named to the CACC All-Academic Team and PhillySIDA Academic All-Area Team in the spring.

“I would say balancing academics and basketball is the biggest part,” Meinel said. “It’s impressive to anyone who can do this. Coach has been good with that, telling us school is first.”

While it will be challenging for Meinel to top her individual goals, the team goals are within reach. In particular she has January 23 circled on her calendar when Holy Family comes to the Gallagher Centre. That might or might not be because her brother Tyler is now a freshman on that team.

“It’s always been a big rivalry with him,” Meinel said. “He is still always asking to play 1-on-1 every time he comes home. I won’t do that with him anymore. He’s 6-foot-6, he can just body me in the paint.”

Shirley said it will be a difficult night when he sees Meinel off the court for the final time. She is 13th all-time in scoring at 1,331 points, ninth in field goals made (531) and second in steals with 290.

“Her and (senior guard) Morgan Robinson are the bookends of the program,” Shirley said. “It will be a tough day for me when she goes.”