University of North Carolina Athletics
Leah Metcalf: Leaving Her Mark
March 17, 2005 | Women's Basketball
March 17, 2005
The members of the Metcalf family had no idea what potential they would unlock when they let 6-year-old Leah Metcalf tag along with her oldest brother to sign up for church league basketball in Charlotte, N.C. After Leah's father, Michael, finished registering his son, Michael Jr., for the 7- and 8-year-old league, a woman behind a desk leaned over and asked Leah, "Are you going to play too?"
Little Leah looked up, grinned and happily said, "Yeah!"
Who could say no to that? Not Leah's father. So it was. Leah Metcalf would embark on her basketball career by leaving her mark with the boys. It did not take long for Leah's parents to realize that they had quite an athlete on their hands.
"When I saw that she could play with the boys, who I thought were pretty good at the time, I thought she was quite athletic," recalls Leah's mother, Ruth. "She also played baseball and tee-ball with the same group of guys and she played just as well. By the time she got to be about 9 or 10, she was the pitcher. At that point I realized that maybe this might be a special little athlete."
In her time at the University of North Carolina, Metcalf, now a senior, has proven to be more than just a special little athlete. In her fourth year as a regular in the lineup, Metcalf ranks among UNC's top 10 players in career assists and career three-pointers and is within range of becoming the 23rd player in school history to reach the 1,000-career-points mark. "Throughout her career, Leah has been really steady for us, really consistent," says UNC coach Sylvia Hatchell. "She's done everything we've asked her to do - she's a three-point shooter, she distributes the ball, she's tenacious on defense. She's just solid."
Coming into her first season in arguably the best conference in the country, Metcalf was named Preseason ACC Rookie of the Year. The pressure, however, did not phase her one bit. "I just had to keep my head on my shoulders and do what I'd been doing," she says. "That's the main part of playing well your first year - not trying to overdo it just because people put a label on you." In her third game as a Division I player, Metcalf scored 25 points at Connecticut, then ranked No. 1, and immediately validated all the hype surrounding her.
Since that impressive start, Metcalf has gone to make major contributions to the UNC program. However, it's tough to pinpoint just one category that distinguishes her as a great player. Some may argue that it is her ability to knock down a three - Metcalf ranks sixth on the list of UNC's career leaders in three-pointers. Others could argue it is her ability to see the court and pass the ball - she also ranks sixth in career assists. She ranks among the top 25 Atlantic Coast Conference players of all time in career assists and three-pointers. However, there exists still another camp that may suggest that her biggest contribution is her intense defensive play and quick hands.
Metcalf, on the other hand, insists something different. As a captain she sees her most important role as that of a leader. "I like my role right now the best, being a captain," she says. "I like not having to be the go-to player all the time, but helping other people fill that role."
Metcalf's versatility is what makes her one of UNC's most valuable assets on the floor. She has a plethora of roles she can play and adjusts them on a game by game basis. "I just get a feel during the game for what role I need to play," she says. "If other people can't score then I know I'm going to need to. If other people are scoring I know I've got to get them the ball."
While she exhibits many of the traits of the prototypical leader, Metcalf does not have the most vocal presence on the floor. Rarely will anyone see her yelling in a game or at practice. Sophomore Ivory Latta, Metcalf's former AAU teammate and current UNC teammate, notes that Metcalf has other ways of pumping up her team. "Her personality gets us up," says Latta. "When she smiles she gets us pumped up. She's a great leader."
Says Hatchell, "Other players respect her for the way she leads by example."
For Metcalf, the role of captain goes beyond the court. A mathematics major with a minor in Afro-American studies who is considering going on to medical school, she also serves as the squad's academic team captain. Having been named Academic All-ACC in each of her years in Chapel Hill, she's the ideal person to give advice to younger players on the game of academics. On top of it all, when the team has had enough school and basketball for one day, they turn to Leah for a laugh.
"On the court you can tell she's a little feisty, but off the court she's the funniest person," Latta says. "She's funny and cool at the same time."
Whether she plays the role of friend, student, captain, three-point threat, passer, defender or little girl on a boy's basketball team, Leah Metcalf has proven that she'll leave her mark.
