I have been around for a while. I have watched and coached young men go from really good players to go on to become NBA players. I have seen young ladies go from average players to stars in college. Most of these players were hungry, dedicated and passionate about the game. They had an ability, to constantly work without Distractions. But in all my years of coaching and training, I have never seen anyone develop the way McKenzie Teevan has in the past year. I have never seen a player go from not very good to maybe the best center these eyes has seen.
I sat with UPenn coach Mike McLaughlin at academic elite last summer. He asked me my thoughts on McKenzie Teevan. I told him “she not good enough” and he should check back on her in a year. When Bucknell women’s basketball coach Trevor Woodruff asked me, if he should offer McKenzie Teevan. I told him “no” and recommended another player that he now has offered. My own daughter at Holy Cross asked if McKenzie Teevan was good enough. I told her “she’s good enough to get you fired”. But these days all those school should know. Mackenzie Teevan, if their lucky enough to sign her, will be, not may be their best player one day. That’s because I have never in my lifetime as a coach, seen a player develop as she has in just a year. Teevan’s offensive package right now is simply breathtaking.
Yesterday I sat with Elliott Clark at Core Skills training. Elliott Clark has seen just about every top player in the state of New Jersey as a top referee. When he saw McKenzie Teevan drop step and power the ball up, hit turn around jumpers on the block and throw her deadly sky hook. He turned to me and said “I can’t believe how good she is now” I said she has an offensive package that I honestly have never seen. You see nine months ago all Mackenzie Teevan could do at 6’4” was shot deep three’s. These days she can do anything she wishes on the floor. The secret to her success you ask? No player in my time as a coach at any level, have I ever seen make jumps as a player “weekly” like McKenzie Teevan. Even the best of the best show improvement monthly at best and usually yearly. But McKenzie Teevan is a unicorn in such area. It seems she gets better every day and can move her training to games immediately. It’s something I have never experienced as a coach.
When a Big East school offered McKenzie Teevan. I told them, you’re nuts. I told her AAU coach Tracey Sabino schools were recruiting her because she was big and white. See checked all the right boxes. I was wrong because guess what? I think McKenzie Teevan is better than that BIG EAST school, right now. I have seen players develop. I saw Ashley Sofilkanick (Bucknell) develop in to a 1st Team All Shore Player out of nowhere. I watched China Golden develop in a starter at U Pitt as a freshman out of nowhere. I watched Erika Porter go from an unskilled post player to a P5 starter. Sam Guestella go from a nobody to a start at Quinnipiac University. I have a long list of players who have turned the light switch on. But none like McKenzie Teevan, this is a whole different thing. She is a whole different type animal. This is a player that we have never seen change and morph into something so beautiful, so quickly in such a short window. I have never in all my years seen anything like this.
Last fall Kerwin Quinn ask me if McKenzie Teevan was good enough to play on the Irish National team. I laughed, no seriously, I laughed. I’m not laughing these days, because Kerwin Quinn came to watch McKenzie Teevan this winter and offered her right there on the spot. She is now a member ofthe Irish National team. Last winter McKenzie Teevan went to visit a Patriot school. They didn’t offer, the coach said her motor wasn’t big enough. She didn’t run the floor. Well these days she would be that coaches best player one day and runs the floor like a deer. It’s another example of the bizarre development of McKenzie Teevan, it’s seems overnight. Just like how she has become physically stronger and confident. She has a swag now and presence when she walks in the gym. She now has that respect that her peers only give to those special ones. Everyone knows she is different. Something she did not have a year ago. It all part of her amazing story and it is amazing.
Yesterday McKenzie Teevan ask me, “did you see the Asbury Park Press” I said no, but actually I had. She said “can you believe I made All Shore” I responded “that must be a joke” But truthfully I knew she had earned it. She earned it by embracing hard coaching. She earned by watching film till her eyes bled. She earned by showing up everyday. She earned by training during the season. She earned by wanting it more than any player I have coached since a kid named Justine Pissott.
McKenzie Teevan once asked me how good do I really think she could be? I didn’t hesitate. I told her the best post player I have ever coached and maybe the best player in the Shore next year. What I didn’t tell her was what I told an Ivy League coach last week. HARVARD assistant Coach Ali Sanders is a good friend, so I opened up to her. I said “I think McKenzie Teevan could be a pro one day”. That’s because her development is freakish in that she gets better it seems daily. It truly is bizarre. McKenzie is new to basketball and if she keeps developing like this with her size, skill sets and work ethic, this is not just talk, it’s real talk. Her shooting ability combined with her post play are a combination rarely seen in a player of her size. Now throw in the athletic ability.
McKenzie Teevan doesn’t get the competition in high school practice that others get. It usually slows down the progress of young post players. Yet for some strange reason that has no been the case for Mckenzie Teevan. The good news is even that will all change in the spring, as she will train and practice vs U Conn commit Gandy Manu and play for the insanely talented u17 HGSL SHORESHOTS. But we are a long way from that. Now it’s just about a young lady who is doing something very remarkable. It’s real tribute to her work ethic and commitment. I think we’re just starting to see the tip of what Mckenzie Teevan will be.