DePaul University Athletics
Rutgers Transfer Tekia Mack Adds Dynamic Winning Touch
5/14/2021 2:26:00 PM | WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Ex-Marshall star was All-Big Ten Honorable Mention, Big Ten All-Defensive Team
CHICAGO – Coach Doug Bruno just added a winning touch from the West Side with the addition of Tekia Mack to the women's basketball program.
Mack is a perpetual-motion, high-motor, 6-foot, 1-inch hybrid player from Big Ten power Rutgers who combines a forward's length with guard skills.
And just like that, courtesy of the NCAA Transfer Portal, DePaul got a little deeper and a lot more dynamic.
Mack's arrival comes on the heels of former Drake point guard Kierra Collier making Lincoln Park her new home two weeks ago via the transfer portal.
The fifth-year graduate student comes from a long line of outstanding basketball players from 10-time state champion Marshall where the legendary all-time winningest coach Dorothy Gaters has been cultivating championship teams and future college basketball stars for nearly five decades while building the greatest hoops dynasty in state history.
Last season, Mack helped lead the Scarlet Knights to a 14-5 record including 10-3 in a competitive Big Ten Conference that sent seven teams including Rutgers to the NCAA tournament.
Big Ten coaches and Big Ten media voted her All-BIG Ten Honorable Mention and selected her for the five-player Big Ten All-Defensive Team after finishing second in the conference in steals.
She averaged just shy of 11 points a game while adding 5.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists and three steals starting in every one of her 16 games while hustling all over the court 34.3 minutes per game.
Her rebounding average would have tied Darrione Rogers for the DePaul team lead last season. Mack was just a tick behind Lexi Held (3.1 steals a game) in the theft category which figures to only intensify the disruptive Blue Demon full-court press.
At her best, the former Marshall Commando poured in a season-high 26 points and added four steals against Nebraska. She finished with a season-best 13 rebounds at Northwestern and handed out a season-high eight assists against Illinois. Perhaps her most memorable all-around effort came against Minnesota with 12 points, eight rebounds and eight steals.
As a junior, Mack was named to the Big Ten All-Defensive Team and was All-Big Ten Honorable Mention by both the coaches and the media.
She was a senior last year who can make one last run thanks to the NCAA's blanket waiver granting all basketball players an extra year of eligibility because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A member of Rutgers' staff mentioned that DePaul "was getting a good one," and that no one brings more energy than Tekia.
She he will have the added incentive of once again performing in front of her hometown fans---perhaps among them a certain iconic coach from the West Side.
Mack averaged nearly 17 points along with 10.6 rebounds in her senior year at Marshall and led the Commandos to a 33-1 record, a Public League championship and third place in the state tournament.
"Tekia Mack is a multi-dimensional player who brings valuable veteran experience," Bruno said. "Tekia scores the ball in a variety of ways as she can get to the rim and also hit the open three-pointer.
"Her game fits so naturally into our up-tempo DePaulBall style as Tekia can really get out and run. Our team was eighth in the nation at forcing turnovers, and now we add a ball hawk who was second in the Big Ten in steals. Tekia understands and values the defensive side of the ball.
"Like other standouts who have hailed from Chicago's Marshall High School on the West Side, Tekia will bring a Dorothy Gaters-coached toughness and smarts that is always the signature of her Commandos."
Mack is a perpetual-motion, high-motor, 6-foot, 1-inch hybrid player from Big Ten power Rutgers who combines a forward's length with guard skills.
And just like that, courtesy of the NCAA Transfer Portal, DePaul got a little deeper and a lot more dynamic.
Mack's arrival comes on the heels of former Drake point guard Kierra Collier making Lincoln Park her new home two weeks ago via the transfer portal.
The fifth-year graduate student comes from a long line of outstanding basketball players from 10-time state champion Marshall where the legendary all-time winningest coach Dorothy Gaters has been cultivating championship teams and future college basketball stars for nearly five decades while building the greatest hoops dynasty in state history.
Last season, Mack helped lead the Scarlet Knights to a 14-5 record including 10-3 in a competitive Big Ten Conference that sent seven teams including Rutgers to the NCAA tournament.
Big Ten coaches and Big Ten media voted her All-BIG Ten Honorable Mention and selected her for the five-player Big Ten All-Defensive Team after finishing second in the conference in steals.
She averaged just shy of 11 points a game while adding 5.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists and three steals starting in every one of her 16 games while hustling all over the court 34.3 minutes per game.
Her rebounding average would have tied Darrione Rogers for the DePaul team lead last season. Mack was just a tick behind Lexi Held (3.1 steals a game) in the theft category which figures to only intensify the disruptive Blue Demon full-court press.
At her best, the former Marshall Commando poured in a season-high 26 points and added four steals against Nebraska. She finished with a season-best 13 rebounds at Northwestern and handed out a season-high eight assists against Illinois. Perhaps her most memorable all-around effort came against Minnesota with 12 points, eight rebounds and eight steals.
As a junior, Mack was named to the Big Ten All-Defensive Team and was All-Big Ten Honorable Mention by both the coaches and the media.
She was a senior last year who can make one last run thanks to the NCAA's blanket waiver granting all basketball players an extra year of eligibility because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A member of Rutgers' staff mentioned that DePaul "was getting a good one," and that no one brings more energy than Tekia.
She he will have the added incentive of once again performing in front of her hometown fans---perhaps among them a certain iconic coach from the West Side.
Mack averaged nearly 17 points along with 10.6 rebounds in her senior year at Marshall and led the Commandos to a 33-1 record, a Public League championship and third place in the state tournament.
"Tekia Mack is a multi-dimensional player who brings valuable veteran experience," Bruno said. "Tekia scores the ball in a variety of ways as she can get to the rim and also hit the open three-pointer.
"Her game fits so naturally into our up-tempo DePaulBall style as Tekia can really get out and run. Our team was eighth in the nation at forcing turnovers, and now we add a ball hawk who was second in the Big Ten in steals. Tekia understands and values the defensive side of the ball.
"Like other standouts who have hailed from Chicago's Marshall High School on the West Side, Tekia will bring a Dorothy Gaters-coached toughness and smarts that is always the signature of her Commandos."
Players Mentioned
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