Meldrum signs with Lincoln Memorial
Anderson County’s lone senior player will take her ‘A’ game to Harrogate
It’s kind of an odd story, really.
See, Anderson County High School’s Lydia Meldrum didn’t think she was going to play college basketball.
She was committed to go to college, though.
“Originally, I didn’t think I wanted to play after high school,” she said. “I planned on studying law.”
Enter Lincoln Memorial University and the return of an athlete’s desire to compete.
“LMU gave me the opportunity to play,” she said.
Meldrum signed her letter of intent to play basketball for the Lady Rail Splitters two weeks ago.
Meldrum knows the LMU campus. She has lots of friends attending the school in Harrogate. She also has two brothers going to the school.
Not that any of that matters.
“It’s a beautiful place,” she said. “I love the campus.”
Meldrum said she has met the players on the team and feels good around them.
She said she thinks it will be a good atmosphere to expand her skills on the court and “she certainly hopes” she’ll get playing time as an underclassman.
“There are a lot of girls from all over,” she said. “I’ll be pushed by the other players.”
Taking challenges on the court is not new to the lone senior on the 2022 Lady Maverick squad.
“I can’t say enough good things about her,” Anderson County Head Girls Basketball Coach Mitch Cupples said. “It’s been a blessing to coach her during the last two years.”
Cupples said Meldrum was a leader on and off the court, and when he tasked her this last year to step up her leadership, she didn’t blink an eye and just did it.
“I asked her to grow as leader, and she did,” he said. “She’s a natural. She makes everybody laugh on the court and off the court. She brought laughter and fun to the team.”
Meldrum is the type of player you don’t really notice during a game, and then afterward you see she’s scored 18 points, made seven steals, and notched a basket or bucket full of assists and rebounds.
Her defense is intense and tireless — she will wear an opponent down.
Cupples said she works hard on her game and she learns things very quickly.
“She’s got a great memory,” he said.
Meldrum said her best memory from being a Lady Mav came during her junior year when the Lady Mavs beat cross-town rival Clinton in the district tournament. The Clinton High Lady Dragons had beaten the Lady Mavs twice during the regular season and a lot of fans were expecting a three-peat.
It didn’t happen.
“It was special,” Meldrum said.
For Cupples it was proof the team had grown during the season. “It’s a great memory,” he said. “Because of how good they were and we were rebuilding, but it showed we had made progress during the year.”
Meldrum will major in criminology at LMU and four years and a degree later she said she will go to law school.
And during those first four years she said she plans on seeing a lot of Anderson County faithful and her family … At LMU basketball games.
“It’s close to home, about an hour away,” she said. “I hope to see a lot of friends and family at the games.”
