McCrea signs a letter of intent with MSU-Billings

Ronan High School girl’s basketball coach Steve Woll, who has coached several talented and motivated players in his 25-year coaching tenure, paid current Maidens’ player Micalann McCrea the ultimate compliment.

McCrea, who just signed with Montana State University-Billings, an NAIA school, has earned the right to play at the next level, according to Woll.

“McCrea has self-motivation, desire and a huge heart and when you have those characteristics, you can go a long way in life,” Woll said. “I have never had a player call me, text me or e-mail me as much as she has trying to get into the gym. She is what I call a ‘self-made player.’ Self-made players go full speed and try to get better in the weight room. She is a 12-month player, not just a three-month player. She works out year round to try to improve her game and has a love and desire for the game.”

McCrea and her family were also complimentary of Woll, who has coached as an assistant and taught McCrea in some capacity for the last 11 years.

“I hadn’t really coached her as head coach, but I taught her in class and being able to sit with the family when she signed her letter of intent was probably one of the biggest honors for me,” Woll said. “She pulled up a seat for me and wanted me to sit by her when she signed. That was a big compliment and one the biggest compliments I’ve ever had from a player-student. It caught me blind sided and was pretty cool.”

Woll said he felt McCrea has intangible qualities that can’t be coached and was one of the key components to Ronan’s undefeated 2016-2017 year.

“She is able to think ahead, knows the situation, has a desire to win and will do whatever it takes to win,” McCrea said. “In basketball, there are two kinds of players, recreational and competitive players. At the high school level, it is a more competitive environment and she plays to win. No one wants to win more than her.”

Woll said he saw evidence of McCrea’s competitive nature reference all the way back to Little Dribblers.

“When she played Little Dribblers and competed in the Punt, Pass and Kick championship, she always had that drive,” Woll said.

McCrea, who will now have an opportunity to play at the collegiate level, has said she has worked for this opportunity to play at the next level for several years.

“This was something that I’ve been working on my entire life,” McCrea said. “I would get up at five in the morning and do some basketball. I wanted to become better to make it to that next level.

“Ever since my sophomore year, I’ve always practiced after school,” McCrea said. “I found that I got busier and busier and that is why I had to practice early or after school. I’ve known since my freshman year if I worked at basketball and committed to it year round that everything would fall into place.”

Last year, McCrea was one of several key components to the Maidens’ undefeated regular season, and despite losing Lee and Alicia Camel from last year’s team, McCrea said she, her team and her coaching staff have high expectations as they enter the 2017-2018 campaign.

McCrea said she has “embraced” the leadership role as she and her team get ready to compete in Class A. Towards the end of 2016, the Montana State Activities Association had a major realignment and Ronan will now enter into a conference that includes Browning, defending champion Columbia Falls, and Polson, among other teams.

McCrea said she is ready for the challenge in trying to bolster her team back to back-to-back 20-win seasons.

“When you finish a season undefeated, you have a target on your back,” McCrea said. “We have lost two good players and we are going to be lacking height this year. Because of that, we are prepared to run the court like no other. I just know because I am a senior this year to get into the gym and work on things. I would text the group and go into the gym and lift. I am trying to make everyone on my team better and everyone has really stepped up. That has been nice.”

McCrea, unlike a lot of players that will enter the collegiate basketball world, will get a chance to compete for playing time immediately at MSU-Billings.

“MSU-B watched me at state last year and they told me when they were constructing a camp in Ronan, one of the assistants said ‘they would let head coach Kevin Woodin know about me,” McCrea said. “After the summer was done, I wanted to take a visit. I knew the call was coming. When I did get that phone call, the butterfly feeling you get (when they offer you a position on the team) is pretty cool.”

During the summer, McCrea elevated her game and traveled to play AAU basketball in various states like Texas, Arizona and Georgia.

At AAU, McCrea was exposed to a whole different style of basketball.

“It was funny because I would walk by the different ages like the 14U and 15U and those kids would be my height,” McCrea recalls. “(The AAU experience) was good and I had to basically battle at those tournaments. I feel that experience will transition well over here in Montana. The experience was a wake up call. I knew it was going to be strong and competitive. I was playing against six-foot, eight-inch girls and a couple of them could dunk.”

McCrea said she felt she is looking forward to starting the season with her Maiden’s team.