Fulps' creativity shines on the basketball court and YouTube

By Gina Massetani

Meagan Fulps has a niche for displaying her films on YouTube. But if Fulps continues her dominance on the basketball court, the short Youtube clips will be her very own highlight reels.

"She is an unbelievable, phenomenal player," said Assistant Coach Tamara Inoue. "She is super small, but she has the biggest hops in the world."

The vibrant smile on Inoue's face when talking about Fulps made her feelings perfectly clear. Coach Inoue spends the majority of her time working with the guards, which has allowed her to establish a strong relationship with the sophomore.

The guard practice is paying off. Fulps is the Broncos leading scorer so far this season, averaging 12.4 points per game, including a 30-point game against Saint Mary's. Last year, she was named to the WCC All-Freshman team.

Starting as a child, Fulps benefited on the court from having an older brother who also played basketball in high school.

"We share our love for basketball and used to play together," she said.

From the age of 5, Fulps played in a co-ed league, taking her love for sports beyond basketball by also playing T-ball, soccer and football with her friends.

"I grew up as a little tomboy," she said. "I grew up around boys so I played sports all the time."

Fulps grew up in Oregon City, Ore. before moving to Denver, Colo. when she was eight. During high school Fulps gained experience, as her team won three consecutive state championships and was nationally ranked. Fulps' success hasn't impacted her humble attitude.

"Awards are nice and they reward her for her hard work, but at the end of the day she cares more about the success of her teammates," Inoue said.

Last season, Fulps was forced to watch her teammates after being sidelined from a stress fracture in her shin entering the WCC tournament.

"We had two upsets," said Fulps. "Being the eighth seed going in and we upset USD and Portland which was pretty amazing."  

Fulps was looking at several other WCC schools and almost committed to the University of Utah, which has strong basketball program, before she seriously considered Santa Clara. After contacting the coaches, she visited campus and verbally committed before her trip ended.

"Santa Clara fit perfectly for everything I was looking for," said Fulps.  "It has a really good film production aspect to the communication major. In basketball I wanted to come in and be a player right away so I thought it was a good situation for me. Plus, when I came to visit everything fit perfectly with the coaches and the players."

The adjustment period was pretty simple for Fulps academically, but she quickly faced difficulties on the court.

"It is a huge step from high school," she explained. "It is a faster game, more intense. My biggest adjustment was gaining my mental toughness."

As the team scoring leader, Fulps has demonstrated she is more than capable of being an offensive threat.

"Meagan is a scorer," said Inoue. "She finds the gap, she'll read it and get herself in there. She is mighty mouse."

However, Fulps is committed on the defensive end as well.

"Defense is always something I strive to do well in," she said. "I really want to go out and focus on that and the little things like boxing out and taking care of the ball. I just want to play solid, execute the fundamentals and stay calm and not try to force things."

After Santa Clara, Fulps dreams to ultimately become a film director in Hollywood. She has made several films and videos and even has her own YouTube page called FulpsyFilms. Fulps created a spinoff of the comedy "The Office" and made two episodes titled "The Dorm."

"Over summer when we had a bunch of extra time I made a couple of silly little videos," said Fulps. "They are so goofy, but the team had fun with it."

Although Fulps is still young, the coaches are putting their faith in her being a team leader.

"Leadership for us is big," said Inoue. "We lack that a little bit, so we are hoping Meagan will be more of a leader. We want her to be a key factor of our success. Meagan has every opportunity to do it, it is just if she wants to do it."

Contact Gina Massetani at gmassetani@scu.edu or (408) 551-1918.