TOLEDO, Ohio — The Toledo Rockets are putting together another great season. The midnight blue and gold are firmly in the MAC race, and some of the credit for the team's success goes to Sammi Mikonowicz.
The senior forward has come a long way from her days at Rossford High School, to now surpassing 1,000 points in her college career. Mikonowicz was one of the best local high school basketball players in the class of 2020.
"Blue collar, always came in [ready to go,] hard worker, first one in the gym, last one to leave," said Toby Ledesma, Mikonowicz's high school head coach. "You could just tell [she] loved the game."
But as Mikonowicz approached the end of her high school career, the All-Ohio Division II Player of the Year didn't have any offers from nearby Division I colleges. She wanted to stay near family and was close to choosing a community college. Then Head Coach Tricia Cullop stepped in.
"We kept watchig her stats, and said 'gosh, we better get some eyes on this kid, because her stats were phenomenal,'" Cullop said of her staff at the time.
Cullop sent an assistant to observe Mikonowicz in-person and it wasn't long after that coach and prospect were in communication.
"I talked to the Toledo coaching staff and they said 'we have a walk-on spot.'"
"Obviously we didn't have anything scholarship-wise at the moment," Cullop said. "It worked out that we had a player transfer out, and we gave her the scholarship, and that's probably one of the best investments we ever made."
Cullop explained how it became apparent over the summer of 2020 that Mikonowicz would play a significant role in the lineup. Mikonowicz was a starter in her first game of her freshman year. Since then, she has started every single game she's played in.
Since first stepping on the court at Savage Arena in 2020, Mikonowicz has started 113 games - almost more than any other player (save for fifth-year Quinesha Lockett with 131 starts), and more than fifth-year Sophia Wiard (112).
During her most recent game versus I-75 rival Bowling Green, Mikonowicz surpassed 1,000 points in her career.
"The atmosphere I did it in was even more incredible," Mikonowicz said. "How many fans? 6,000? Over 6,000 fans? A rival game, and surrounded by my teammates, family, everyone in the community, so it was definitely awesome."
Cullop said there's something special to having a player who grew up 15 minutes from Savage Arena.
"I think it means just a little bit more when you're from here, and you wear Toledo across your chest," Cullop said.
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