May 8, 2020 4 min read

Mary Dunn was convinced the 2019-20 basketball season was going to be a terrific one for her and Youngstown State.

A Trinity graduate and the lone senior on the Youngstown State women’s team, Dunn had much tangible evidence to support her belief. She looked around YSU’s Beeghly Center and saw plenty of young and talented players, and she was ready to assume the role of team leader. She was already being recognized as one of the best players in the conference.

Dunn was a first team All-Horizon League selection as a junior, when she averaged 12.6 points, 5.7 rebounds per game, and was selected to the conference’s five-player preseason all-league team for 2019-20.

After three games during which she “wasn’t playing up to the level I expected,” but scored in double figures in each, and the Penguins saddled with a 1-2 record, Dunn wasn’t ready to hedge her bet about her season and that of the Penguins.

“I had hurt my wrist and was playing with both hands taped,” Dunn pointed out.

Then it all came together for Dunn in one landmark game Nov. 16 against Eastern Michigan. She made of 11 of 18 shots, six of seven free throws, grabbed seven rebounds and scored a career-high 30 points, including the 1,000th of her career. A 6-3 forward, Dunn even made a pair of three-pointers in the game.

“I like shooting from outside,” Dunn is quick to say. She’s a career 34% shooter from behind the arc.

Youngstown State won the game, 79-77, but not was well with Dunn when it ended. While making her final basket of the game, which gave YSU a 77-75 lead with only 26 seconds remaining, Dunn felt a sharp pain in her knee.

“I knew something was wrong,” she recalled.

The something was a tear in the meniscus, though she remained in the game to its end. The knee required surgery, which would be season-ending for Dunn.

“The recovery time depends on the person. Zion Williamson had the same injury and it took him three months to return,” Dunn said. “I was in a lot of pain.

“Watching all those games was difficult. We were very young, but we had a lot of potential. I definitely learned a lot about myself and basketball while I was out. It will make me a better player. I tried to be a good leader even though I wasn’t able to play.”

Dunn didn’t make it back on the court before YSU’s season ended with a 13-17 record as the Penguins struggled to replace their best and most experienced player.

Because she played in only four games, Dunn is eligible to receive a medical redshirt that will allow her another season of eligibility. She applied for the redshirt, but because the coronavirus pandemic has the NCAA bogged on such paperwork matters, Dunn and YSU haven’t received official word on her status.

“I’m very optimistic that I’ll get the redshirt. The cutoff is eight games and I played in only four,” Dunn explained.

Though she was unable to put up more eye-popping numbers on the court for the final three months of the season, Dunn continued to score big in the classroom. She was one of only 15 Academic All-Americans in the country as a junior and will graduate today with a 4.0 grade-point average. And she did it with a double major (communications and sociology) and two minors (psychology and political science). She plans to attend grad school at YSU and has the goal of attaining a PhD in professional communications.

YSU will hold a virtual graduation today with an in-person ceremony in December.

“Youngstown State has been everything I expected and more,” Dunn said. “I definitely made the right decision.”

Until she receives a decision about her eligibility for next basketball season, and how the pandemic will impact the season, if at all, Dunn will be back in Washington.

“I’m excited to play again. We have a hoop in the back yard,” she said, “and the only person I’ve been able to post up on for a while is my brother.”