Jun 5, 2025 By Eleanor Bailey 5 min read

On the cusp of her brother competing in the NBA championships, Megan McConnell signed a contract with the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury.

McConnell inked her contract on June 3 while T.J. McConnell embarked on his title quest with the Indiana Pacers on June 5 against the highly-favored Oklahoma Thunder. As a result, the two joined a rare group of siblings playing professionally. The McConnells are one of three active sister-brother duos in the NBA and WNBA.

McConnell also became one of only three players in Duquesne University women’s basketball history to make an active WNBA roster, joining the ranks with Korie Hlede (1998) and Candace Futrell (2004).

“Meg had worked incredibly hard to play in the WNBA,” DU head coach Dan Burt said. “This roster spot is well earned. So happy for such an awesome young woman.”

Indeed, McConnell had a distinguished career at Duquesne.

Over her time on the Bluff, she became the program’s all-time leader in assists (660) and steals (370), while finishing second in career scoring with 1,795 points. She also set school records for games played (144), career starts (136), and triple-doubles (4).

Despite standing just 5-foot-7, she proved to be a dominant presence on the boards, collecting 1,079 career rebounds, the second-most in program history, and averaging 7.5 rebounds per game, good for 10th all-time. A consistent perimeter threat, she knocked down 209 three-pointers, ranking sixth at Duquesne, while her 4.6 assists per game average stands as the seventh-best mark in school history.

McConnell accumulated a plethora of accolades including finalist for the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year and Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year. She concluded her career with a selection to the 2025 Lilly Women’s College All-Star Game.

A two-time A-10 All-Conference First Team and All-Defensive Team honoree, she also distinguished herself academically, earning A-10 All-Academic Team honors for three straight seasons and being named to the CSC Academic All-District® Team on three occasions.

Though she was not selected in the 2025 WNBA Draft, McConnell signed as a free agent in April with the Mercury.

“Honestly, I couldn’t believe it when I got that call from my agent,” McConnell said in a press release from Duquesne. “He said that Phoenix was excited about me and that they wanted to offer me to a training camp, and I accepted it.”

She added, I just couldn’t be happier. I just couldn’t wait to go there and prove myself that I belong there.”

McConnell competed with the Mercury in the WNBA preseason before final roster cuts were made. During the preseason, she averaged 3.0 points while converting 50 percent of her shots from the field as well as three-point range.

Because of injuries, the Mercury made quick roster moves, signing McConnell. Phoenix is off to one of its best starts in franchise history.

Burt predicts success for McConnell, who was a standout at Chartiers Valley High School winning several WPIAL titles and a PIAA championship.

“Meg is a pure point guard from a family that has produced some of the best point guards to ever come out of Western Pennsylvania,” Burt said. “She has a high basketball IQ, is a winner and most importantly, a competitor with a killer instinct.”

McConnell’s relatives had that inclination as well.

Her aunts, Suzie and Kathy played on Seton LaSalle’s 1984 state championship team, which was recently inducted into the WPIAL Hall of Fame.

After excelling at Penn State, Suzie went on to participate in two Summer Olympic Games, winning gold and bronze medals for Team USA, while Kathy has pursued a career in coaching. After a stint at Trinity, Kathy is now the head coach at Carnegie Mellon University.

Her father, Tim, played on a WPIAL runner-up team in high school and spearheaded Waynesburg University into the national spotlight. Tim went on to become one of the winningest high school coaches with more than 500 career victories and multiple WPIAL championships. He coached Megan to a PIAA state title in 2019.

And then there’s Megan’s oldest brother T.J. Like Megan, he played for his father while attending Chartiers Valley High School.

T.J. led the Colts to a 29-2 record, a WPIAL title and a berth in the PIAA 3A state championship game in 2010. During his senior year, he scored 1,062 points while averaging 34.2 points, 8.2 rebounds and 9.1 assists per game He claimed first-team all-state accolades and Pennsylvania Player of the Year honors as a result.

T.J. ranks as the all-time scoring leader at Chartiers Valley with 2,404 career points. He also holds the WPIAL record for career 3-point field goals with 334.

After a standout collegiate career at Duquesne and Arizona, T.J. also went unselected in the NBA draft, but he signed as a free agent with Philadelphia. After four seasons with the 76ers, he signed a two-year deal with Indiana in 2019. He has played with the Pacers ever since.

That T.J. became a professional player let alone one competing in this year’s NBA championships when he was a skinny, half-pint sized point guard while playing in high school comes as a complete surprise to his dad.

“I can’t believe my son is playing in the NBA finals,” Tim said. “I never envisioned him in the NBA when he was in high school let alone playing the finals.”

T.J. made that dream happen..

“His dedication to the sport, his work ethic, attitude and the sacrifices he made, all played a part in T.J. making it to the NBA,” said Tim.

Editor’s Note: In her WNBA debut on June 4, McConnell suffered a leg injury after 13 minutes of play. In the Mercury’s 88-65 loss, she scored three points, dished up three assists and pulled in a rebound and swiped a pass before being carried off the court by teammates and trainers after hurting her right knee with under two minutes to play in the fourth quarter.