Friday, November 9, 2018 
 
 TIP OFF 2018
5B
Friday, November 9, 2018 
 
 TIP OFF 2018
4B

Long before former Philadelphia 76ers general manager Sam 

Hinkie asked his devout fan base and the inquisitive media to “trust 
the process,” Nicole Munger had already been applying that mantra to 
her basketball career.

Just an hour north of the Wells Fargo Center, Munger was entering 

her freshman year at Central Bucks High School West in Doylestown, 
Penn. Despite having a local reputation for being athletic, she was 
merely 5-feet tall. But what might have been a disadvantage in most 
people’s eyes was a source of motivation.

“She was about 4-foot nothing,” said her dad, Rick. “Most kids, when 

they’re playing sports, develop a skill-set once they’re comfortable with 
their body. Nicole didn’t have that opportunity. She had to develop a 
skill-set and let her body grow into that skill.”

Added her high school coach, Terry Rakowsky: “You could tell 

from the very beginning that she was special … and just how hard she 
worked and how serious she took what she was trying to accomplish. 
And again, she was just tiny. But her energy and just her commitment 
— she just played one way, which was 100 percent all the time.”

During her time as a Lady Buck, Munger worked tirelessly to 

improve her game. She blossomed into one of the state’s best all-around 
players, quickly enhancing that local reputation into something much 
more. Her height was finally catching up to her skill and effort, and 
colleges around the country began taking notice.

As Munger would soon find out, the eventual transition to the 

college game posed even more challenges. Thanks to her Philadelphia-
bred mentality, though, she would be up to the task.

***
Rick Munger had always been an avid Philadelphia sports fan. But 

becoming a father for the first time to newly-born Nicole meant that 
his fandom would have to take a backseat. Or did it?

“When Nicole was born,” Rick said, “I used to watch the Flyers, 

the NHL hockey team, and my wife made a comment to me like, ‘You 
know, once this baby comes, you’re not going to be able to watch this 
all the time.’ And to my wife’s dislike, Nicole would actually lay on my 
chest and watch the hockey games with me and would just love it.”

It turns out Rick didn’t have to sacrifice any of his fandom for Nicole. 

She was as big a sports fan as he was.

Nicole’s love for watching sports quickly turned into a love of 

playing them. Her and her younger brother Ryan would take to the 
streets of their cul-du-sac to join in on games of pick-up basketball, 
baseball, football and even hockey with their neighbors.

Though these games were played for fun, they also served as an 

incubator for Nicole’s competitive nature.

No sport seemed off limits to her growing up. Munger participated 

recreationally in everything from softball to football, and she was good 
at them all.

When her football and soccer schedules conflicted one year, in 

order to keep her on the team, the soccer coach told the Mungers that 
Nicole could forgo practices and just play in the games.

Despite excelling in multiple sports, she really began focusing on 

basketball in sixth grade.

“Basketball kinda just weeded itself out,” Munger said. “I mean, it 

was the sport I was best at. I knew I couldn’t keep playing football with 
the guys and baseball with the guys. Basketball just won out and that’s 
how it became my favorite sport.”

From that moment on, Munger devoted all her time outside of 

school to getting better. It was at this time that she started developing 
her skill-set.

She joined a top-notch AAU program, the Philadelphia Belles, 

during middle school, but was told she’d have to play on the “B-team” 
that season due to her height.

Munger wasn’t satisfied with that. “She said, ‘No, I want to play on 

this team,’ ” Rick said. “ ‘If you don’t want to play me, that’s okay, but 
I’m going to practice with these kids who are better, because I want to 
get better.’ ”

***
The Wolverines offered Munger during her sophomore year of high 

school.

Michigan’s reputation preceded itself, but going into her official 

visit, Munger and her parents were somewhat wary of how far Ann 
Arbor was from southeast Pennsylvania.

She had never been away from home for an extended period of 

time, and the 10-hour drive from Doylestown meant her family wasn’t 
exactly accessible.

If it’s meant to be, though, it’s meant to be.
Munger loved everything about Michigan — the campus, the 

academics and the athletics as a whole.

“I remember that Friday we were just walking around on campus,” 

Nicole said. “I hit my brother on one side, my dad on the other side 
and said ‘This is it.’ Walking on campus there was just a feel. It was 
a football game weekend … it was just different. You could feel 
the tradition. Every building was just beautiful, obviously highly-
renowned academics were something I was looking for … and that’s 
not even talking about basketball.”

Of course, basketball had to be a consideration too. Her tour of 

campus culminated in her visit to Crisler Center, where she sat down 

with Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico. The two hit 
it off.

“I mean besides how gorgeous this place is, I was 

sitting in coach’s office, and she was the only coach 
talking about getting back to Final Fours,” Munger 
said. “It wasn’t just like, ‘Let’s make the tournament,’ 
it was like ‘Let’s get to Final Fours.’ ”

The admiration was mutual. In Munger, Barnes 

Arico — who was just beginning her coaching career at 
Michigan — saw a hard-working and talented prospect. 
To Barnes Arico, Munger was a player who could only 
be an asset to whichever program was lucky enough to 
get her.

“You need players like Nicole Munger in your program 

to be successful,” Barnes Arico said. “And I have valued 
and appreciated that from day one. She’s a special kid.”

The love affair had commenced. After a tremendous 

senior season, in which Munger earned All-State first 
team honors and led the Lady Bucks to a 32-2 record and 
a runner-up finish in the state championship, the four-star 
recruit packed her bags for Ann Arbor.

Her freshman year, Munger struggled to adjust. 

Academically, assignments were coming fast and furious. 
On the basketball court, she was no longer the best player in 
practice. And on top of it all, her support system was 580 miles 
away. Doubt over whether she belonged at Michigan swirled 
around her head.

“Because it’s Michigan,” Munger said. “I never — I just had 

the thought coming in that, ‘What if I don’t make it?’ I don’t 
think I had the confidence that I could play here until partway 
through my freshman year, when I realized, ‘I can do this. These 
kids are better than me, but I’ll get there.’ ”

Munger, having learned from previous experiences, embraced 

the process all over again.

Her mindset switched to making the team better in whatever 

way she could. In practice, she frequently played on the scout team, 
where her main job was pestering star sophomore point guard 
Katelynn Flaherty. Just like before, Munger worked her way up the 
depth chart with grit and commitment. As a top-100 recruit coming 
out of high school, the talent was clearly there, but without her 
unwavering devotion to improvement, her freshman season would 
not have gone as well as it did.

She appeared in 34 games that year, primarily coming in to play 

pressure defense and hit the occasional 
outside shot on offense. She may have 
averaged just 4.7 points and 2.3 rebounds 
per game, but her contribution went far 
beyond the numbers. 

“She’s a fan favorite,” Barnes Arico 

said. “From the first time she’s ever 
stepped onto the court, people have 
grabbed me immediately after the 
game, ‘Oh my gosh that No. 10, oh my 
gosh, she will just do anything to help 
your team win. She will dive for the 
ball. She will take the charge. She’ll 
be bloodied and try and get up to get 
a stop.’ ”

***
Fast forward to present day, 

and the 5-foot-10 Nicole Munger 
is one of Michigan’s go-to players 
heading into season.

Having lost Flaherty and 

Jillian Dunston from last year’s team — 
which made it to the second round of the 
NCAA tournament — Munger and senior 
forward Hallie Thome have assumed 
leadership roles, both on the court and off it.

“Hallie and I have really been working 

with the team just on the culture,” Munger 
said. “And making sure everyone is on 
board. It’s going to be a really big year. It’s 
a really important year for the growth of 
this program and I think we have the pieces 
in place to do something special, which is 
really cool.”

If anybody is suited for a leadership role, 

it’s Munger. Her unbridled effort coupled 
with the fact that she’s earned Academic 
All-Big Ten honors her past two seasons has 
made her a model example for her younger 
teammates.

On the court this season, her role will be 

to complement Thome’s interior dominance 

with a threat from the outside. Munger shot 
40.4 percent from three last season and will 
be looked to even more to provide that threat 
beyond the arc.

“She can shoot the basketball better than 

I believe anybody in the country,” according 
to Barnes Arico. “I have to continually 
remind her of that, because she doesn’t shoot 
the ball enough for my liking, but she is an 
incredible, incredible shooter.”

If she and Thome can successfully mesh 

this season, while also bringing along 
some of the younger stars on the team, 
the Wolverines will be a major factor in a 
relatively unknown Big Ten Conference.

“Going towards the end of the year, one 

of our big things is Michigan (women’s) 
basketball has never won a Big Ten 
Championship so I think that’s one of our 
biggest goals,” Munger said. “It would be 
great to raise a banner.”

***
Munger’s story is not one of an underdog. 

She had been blessed by unusual athletic 
ability at the outset. Instead, her story is 
one of hard work and trust. Without those 
qualities, she wouldn’t be in her current 
position — a valuable player on a Big Ten 
contender.

There is something about Nicole Munger 

and Philadelphia that go so well together. 
As Rick explains, Philadelphia is a unique 
sports market: one where the only thing the 
fans care about is effort.

“Whether you make a mistake or not is 

fine, as long as you’re giving it your all,” Rick 
said. “And I think Nic has sort of picked up 
on that — that’s the way she plays.”

