Women's Basketball
Team 2022-23 Nebraska WBB
Maggie Mendelson

Maggie Mendelson Season 2022-23

#44
PositionF/C
Height6-5
ClassFreshman
HometownOgden, Utah
Maggie Mendelson

Honors & Awards

  • Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll (Fall 2022; Spring 2023)
  • Tom Osborne Citizenship Team (2023)
  • U.S. Under 16 National Basketball Team (FIBA Americas Championship, August 2021)
  • No. 32 Basketball Recruit in the Nation (ESPN, 2022)
  • U.S. Under 19 National Volleyball Team (Pan American Cup, Gold, July 2022)
  • U.S. Under 18 National Volleyball Team (FIVB U18 World Championships, September 2021)
  • No. 2 Volleyball Recruit in the Nation (Prep Volleyball, 2023)
  • AVCA High School All-American (Third Team, 2021)
  • Utah High School Player of the Year (2021)
  • AVCA Phenom List (2020, 2021)

Outlook (2023-24)
Maggie Mendelson plans to rejoin the Nebraska women's basketball team following the completion of the 2023 volleyball season.

The 6-5 center/forward from Ogden, Utah helped the volleyball program to a top-five national ranking through September's matches. She had two kills in the win over Omaha in Volleyball Day at Nebraska inside Memorial Stadium, which drew a women's sports record 92,003 fans on Aug. 30.
 
Mendelson practiced with the women's basketball until July before switching her focus full time to volleyball. She did not make the trip with the Husker basketball team to Greece in early August. She did travel with the volleyball team to Brazil earlier in the summer.
 
Mendelson averaged 2.0 points and 2.2 rebounds over 22 games as a true freshman for the Huskers in 2022-23.
 
Freshman (2022-23)
Mendelson joined the Nebraska basketball team on the court prior to semester break in December, after competing for the Husker volleyball team during the fall. Mendelson made an instant impact in her college basketball debut by scoring nine points on perfect shooting while adding three blocks in a 66-39 win over eventual Mountain West Conference runner-up and WNIT qualifier Wyoming (Dec. 18).
 
She played an even bigger role in her second game, just missing a double-double with nine points, nine rebounds and two blocks in 17 minutes off the bench in Nebraska’s 85-79 3OT win over No. 20 Kansas (Dec. 21), which went on to win the Postseason WNIT championship.
 
Over 22 games as a true freshman, Mendelson averaged 2.0 points and 2.2 rebounds per game while adding 14 total blocked shots on the season. She contributed four points and three rebounds in Nebraska's Big Ten win over Penn State (Jan. 11). Mendelson also had four points, a rebound and a blocked shot in a Big Ten road win at Northwestern (Feb. 6).
 
Mendelson capped the regular season with one of her best efforts, scoring four points to go with six rebounds, a block and a steal in just nine minutes in a Husker victory over Northwestern (Feb. 26). She closed the year with two points, three rebounds and a pair of steals at Kansas in the WNIT Super 16.
 
Mendelson, who spent the fall with the nationally ranked Husker volleyball team, won gold medals for U.S. age group national teams in both basketball and volleyball before competing as a Husker. She spent time training with the Nebraska basketball team in the summer of 2022 after graduating from Fremont High School in Utah a year early. She won gold for the U.S. Under 19 National Volleyball Team at the Pan American Cup.
 
In the summer of 2021, Mendelson won gold as a member of the U.S. Under 16 National Basketball Team at the FIBA Americas Championship.

Before Nebraska
As a basketball player at Fremont High School, Mendelson led the Silverwolves to the 2021 state championship with a perfect 26-0 record as a sophomore in 2021. She averaged 14.3 points, 8.9 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.9 blocks while starting every game. She collected 15 points and 14 rebounds in the state title game. 

In her final high school season as a junior, Mendelson led the Silverwolves back to the 2022 UHSAA/Mountain America Girls Basketball State Championship game by averaging 17.5 points and 9.1 rebounds over 26 games on the season. In the state title game, Mendelson had 25 points and six steals in a 67-65 double-overtime loss to Lone Peak at BYU (March 5). Fremont finished 24-3.

Mendelson had 14 points and seven boards in a state semifinal win over Westlake (March 3), after putting up 19 points and 15 rebounds in a victory over Bingham (March 1).

As a freshman, Mendelson averaged 8.0 points, 5.6 rebounds, 0.7 assists, 0.3 steals and 1.6 blocks per game.

She was also a three-time letterwinner in volleyball and passed the 1,000 career kills milestone in two and a half years. In 2021, Mendelson totaled 407 kills on .294 hitting with 59 aces and earned third-team AVCA All-America and first-team All-Region 1 honors. She was the Utah Gatorade High School Player of the Year.

As a sophomore, Mendelson was an outside hitter who helped Fremont to third place at the state tournament and a Region 1 championship. She had 417 kills on .312 hitting and earned 6A first-team all-state recognition by the Deseret News, Region 1 Most Valuable Player and All-Area MVP by the Standard-Examiner for the second straight year.

She hit .387 as a freshman for the Region 1 champion Silverwolves while finishing with 369 kills and 101 blocks. She was a top-20 finalist for Prep Volleyball's National Freshman of the Year and earned a spot on the publication's special mention list for high school All-Americans. In July 2020, Prep Volleyball slotted her No. 2 on its Top 150 list.

Mendelson was named to the 25 Underclassmen to Watch List (2021) by Volleyball Magazine, the AVCA's Phenom List (2020, 2021) and Prep Volleyball's Frosh 59. She played club volleyball for the Utah Hive, which won the Triple Crown SLC tournament and took third at the Red Rock Rave.

"When recruiting opened back up after a year and a half, Maggie's club tournament in Salt Lake City was the first place I went," Nebraska Volleyball Coach John Cook said. "Maggie is a special talent, an elite competitor and a multi-sport athlete, which we love here at Nebraska. Coach Williams and I presented a great plan for her to succeed in both sports, and that's one of the reasons she decided to come here."

Personal
The daughter of Phil and Jenny Mendelson, Maggie carried a 4.0 grade-point average while taking a full load of AP and honors classes at Fremont High School. She was a member of the honor society and academic all-state. She is majoring in environmental science and earned spots on the Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Roll in the fall and spring semesters of 2022-23.

She was also a member of the 2023 Tom Osborne Citizenship Team.

Phil and Jenny Mendelson were both basketball players at Weber State. Maggie has an older brother and an older sister.

"I chose Nebraska because of the relationship I have built with the coaches," Mendelson said. "They believe I can play both sports, and I appreciate the tradition of those programs at Nebraska."

Since 2000, four student-athletes -- Greichaly Cepero, Laura Pilakowski, Alicia Ostrander and Allie Havers -- have been on the rosters for both volleyball and basketball at Nebraska. Volleyball All-Americans Cepero and Pilakowski were starters in both sports in the same season (2002-03). Havers, a two-year starter on the basketball team (2015-16, 2016-17) later played for the volleyball team in its indoor (2017) and beach (2018) seasons. 

Maggie Mendelson's Career Bests
Points - 9 vs. Kansas, Dec. 21, 2022; vs. Wyoming, Dec. 18, 2022
Rebounds - 9 vs. Kansas, Dec. 21, 2022
Assists - 2 at Iowa, Jan. 28, 2023
Steals - 2 at Iowa, Jan. 28, 2023; at Kansas, March 23, 2023
Blocks - 3 vs. Wyoming, Dec. 18, 2022
FGM - 2 Five Times, most recent at Northwestern, Feb. 6, 2023
FGA - 6 at Northwestern, Feb. 6, 2023
3FGM - None
3FGA - 1 Three Times, most recent vs. Northwestern, Feb. 26, 2023
FTM - 5 vs. Kansas, Dec. 21, 2022; vs. Wyoming, Dec. 18, 2022
FTA - 8 vs. Kansas, Dec. 21, 2022

Mendelson's Career Stats

Year G-GS FG-FGA Pct. 3FG-3FGA Pct. FT-FTA Pct. TRB-Avg. PF-D A TO Blk ST Pts-Avg.
2022-23 22-0 16-42 .381 0-3 .000 11-22 .500 48-2.2 30-1 4 18 14 8 43-2.0
Career 22-0 16-42 .381 0-3 .000 11-22 .500 48-2.2 30-1 4 18 14 8 43-2.0