University of Massachusets Athletics
WBB: Former Farmville Central Star Finds New Home
November 09, 2008 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 9, 2008
Megan Zullo felt it was time for a change.
The redshirt sophomore wasn't happy the way her basketball career was evolving at N.C. State, and with the clock ticking this summer, she decided to take a big leap.
So the former All-State star from Farmville Central transferred to the University of Massachusetts in mid-July.
"So far so good," Zullo said via cell phone. "I came up here in the summer and loved it. ... I was unhappy with my situation at State. I felt I needed to move before it was too late. When I got here, it just felt like home."
Due to NCAA regulations, Zullo will sit out the 2008-09 season. She will have two years of eligibility left when she can finally play a game for the Minutewomen.
This will mark the second time in Zullo's career that she's had to sit and watch from the sidelines. After playing in the Wolfpack's first seven games as a freshman, Zullo suffered a stress fracture in her right leg and missed the final 27 games.
She bounced back last season to start 21 of the Wolfpack's 27 games, averaging 5.4 points and 2.2 assists per game. She led the team with a 1.5 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Zullo, who has aspirations to play professionally overseas or in the WNBA, said she feels much better about having to sit and watch for a season this time around.
"It's not going to be as hard," she said. "I get to practice and stuff every day with the team. This will allow me to learn how they do things and be ready to get in there next season."
UMass coach Marnie Dacko employs a more run-and-gun style of play using four guards and one post player much of the time, Zullo said. And that suits the 5-foot-8 guard just fine.
"It's all about running the floor," Zullo said. "I really would like to think this suits my game. I'm going to be really comfortable running the point."
Dacko said she is expecting Zullo to step right in and be a leader for her young squad.
"Megan will be a fantastic addition to our backcourt," Dacko said in a release. "A guard that can both shoot the ball and share the ball is a valuable player to have. Playing ACC basketball the past two years allowed Megan to compete against some of the top players in the nation. With nine players on our roster considered underclassmen, there is no question that Megan's level of experience will be an asset to our young UMass squad."
About the only adjustment Zullo sees being a big shift is the long distance from home. Instead of it just being a quick hour and a half trip home from Raleigh, it's now a bit longer.
"The distance is the hardest thing," she said. "Playing college ball you don't get to go home much anywhere you are, but if I needed to go home for whatever reason, it was right there. Now, it's a 12-hour drive."
Zullo does have a family connection to the UMass program. Christel Zullo, Megan's aunt, was a guard for the team from 1985-89, scoring 784 points in her career.
After Christel Zullo's death from cancer in Feb. 2007, the school named the Christel Zullo Spirit Award for the player that, in the view of her teammates, best exemplifies the spirit, heart and loyalty that she showed during her playing days.
Contact Randy Jones at rajones@coxnc.com or at (252) 329-9593.