Flashback 100: First-Ever WNBA Draft Pick Rocked at Salem, Won Titles at Tennessee
January 17, 2025
Caitlin Clark is the most recent No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA Draft, joining an elite group that includes Chamique Holdsclaw, Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, and Candace Parker — all decorated former top picks.
But the very first No. 1 pick in WNBA history was none other than Salem High School’s Dena Head.
Selected first overall in the 1997 WNBA Elite Draft, Head’s career more than lived up to that status.
A standout at Salem, Head led her team to the Class A Semifinals in 1987 before the Rocks fell to eventual champion Detroit Cass Tech. That season, she averaged an impressive 27 points per game, earning Michigan’s Miss Basketball Award from the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan. Her 748 total points that year still rank 13th on the state’s all-time single-season scoring list. She remains one of only 33 Michigan high school players to surpass 2,000 career points and one of just 24 to play in more than 100 career games. Over her high school career, she averaged 19.7 points per game.
Head continued her dominance at the collegiate level, winning two national championships at Tennessee under legendary coach Pat Summitt. She was named Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year in 1989 and later earned the SEC Player of the Year honor in 1992. On the international stage, she helped Team USA secure a gold medal at the 1991 World University Games and a bronze at the 1994 World Championships.
Before making WNBA history, Head spent seven seasons playing professionally overseas in Brazil, France, Spain, Italy, and Hungary. In 1997, she was selected first overall by the Utah Starzz in the inaugural WNBA Draft, playing three seasons in the league. She reached the postseason in 2000 with the Phoenix Mercury.
In recognition of her outstanding career, Head was inducted to the Salem Wall of Champions in 2016 — a fitting honor for a true pioneer of women’s basketball.
Previous "Flashback 100" Features
Jan. 10: Despite Launching Before 3-Point Line, Smith Still Tops Scoring List - Read
Jan. 3: Edison's Jackson Earns Place Among State's All-Time Elite - Read
Dec. 20: Future Olympian Piper Leads Grosse Pointe North to Historic Heights - Read
Dec. 13: The Other Mr. Forsythe in Michigan School Sports - Read
Dec. 6: Coleman's Legendary Heroics Carry Harrison Through Repeat - Read
Nov. 29: Harbaugh Brothers' Football Roots Planted in Part at Pioneer - Read
Nov. 22: 8-Player Football Finals Right at Home at Superior Dome - Read
Nov. 15: Leland Career Helps Set Stage for Glass' International Stardom - Read
Nov. 8: Future Baseball Pro Led Escanaba's Legendary Football Title Run - Read
Nov. 1: Michigan High School Baseball Trio Provide World Series Voices - Read
Oct. 25: Before Leading Free World, Ford Starred for Champion GR South - Read
Oct. 18: Mercy Links Legend Becomes World Golf Hall of Famer - Read
Oct. 11: Fisher Races to Finals Stardom on Way to U.S. Olympic First - Read
Oct. 4: Lalas Leaves High School Legacies on Ice & Pitch - Read
Sept. 27: Tamer's History-Making Run Starts in Dexter, Continues to Paris - Read
Sept. 20: Todd Martin’s Road to Greatness Starts at East Lansing - Read
Sept. 13: James Earl Jones, Dickson High Hoops to Hollywood Legend - Read
Sept. 6: Pioneers' Unstoppable Streak Stretches 9 Seasons - Read
Aug. 30: Detroit dePorres Rushes to 1995 Class CC Football Championship - Read
(Photos courtesy of Salem athletic department.)
Arbor Prep's Defense Reigns Again in Repeat Low-Scoring Title Clincher
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
March 22, 2025
EAST LANSING — There is just something about Ypsilanti Arbor Prep and its comfort with playing low-scoring games in the MHSAA Tournament.
After winning the 2024 Division 3 championship game while scoring just 33 points, Arbor Prep didn’t score more than 32 in its final four postseason games this winter.
But that mattered not, as the Gators still managed to win all of them and capture their second-straight Division 3 title and third in four years.
The latest and final triumph of the 2024-25 season was a 32-21 win over Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest on Saturday at Breslin Center.
“We’re not a great offensive team, and part of that is we are playing five to six girls,” Arbor Prep head coach Scott Stine said. “We slow the ball down. We take time off the clock and when you do that, you’re not going to score a lot of points.”
Arbor Prep (17-12) entered the MHSAA Tournament unranked and with a losing record, but that was more a byproduct of playing a schedule filled with Division 1 and 2 opponents during the regular season.
“I knew this group was capable of doing what they just did,” Stine said. “I just didn’t know if it was ever going to click. The last week of the regular season, it did, and they continued this magical run.”
The Final against Lutheran Northwest was an offensive struggle for both teams.
Arbor Prep shot 35.5 percent from the field overall (11 of 31), 26.7 percent from 3-point range (4 of 15) and committed 17 turnovers.
Lutheran Northwest (21-7) shot 17.5 percent from the field overall (7 of 40) and went 1 for 14 from 3-point range, with the only made shot from beyond the 3-point line coming with 36.7 seconds remaining.
“We struggled getting into what we like to do,” Lutheran Northwest head coach Jimmy Mehlberg said. “We like to get into a quicker tempo. Credit to Arbor Prep. They did very well slowing it down on us.”
Arbor Prep held a 13-10 lead at halftime but started to gain a little separation in the third quarter when senior Eliza Bush hit consecutive 3-pointers to give the Gators a 19-12 lead.
Arbor Prep took a 22-13 lead into the fourth quarter. Lutheran Northwest managed to cut its deficit to 24-18 with 4:31 remaining on a basket by junior Addie Troska. But a driving layup by Angela Meggisson with 1:51 remaining gave the Gators a 28-18 lead and all but wrapped up the game.
Meggisson finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds, and Bush scored 10 points for Arbor Prep.
Troska scored eight points to lead Lutheran Northwest (21-7).
The Crusaders took solace in advancing to their first state championship game, and the fact that only three seniors will graduate from a program that has reached Breslin the last two seasons.
Lutheran Northwest lost to Arbor Prep in the Semifinals last year.
“It’s a great thing for our program to take this bigger step,” Lutheran Northwest senior Molly Griswold said, “and do something nobody else in school history has done.”
PHOTOS (Top) Arbor Prep’s Angela Meggisson makes a move toward the paint during her team’s Division 3 title-clinching win Saturday. (Middle) Lutheran Northwest’s Morgan Griswold (22) works to get up a shot over the Gators’ defense. (Below) Kylie Calabria (1) prepares to defend. (Photos by Adam Sheehan/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)