Lauren Eagleson, returning point guard for the Panthers, is ready to take on this season as well as take on the leadership role for the team. Born on August 27, 1999, she started playing organized basketball in fourth grade but has played basketball for as long as she can remember because of her older brothers and their background in sports. Eagleson is from Olney, Illinois, which is about 2 hours east of Greenville. She is currently majoring in Middle Grades and Secondary English with a minor in Coaching.
There are a lot of factors that go into choosing your future college and some of those included distance, sports, friends, and family. For Eagleson, it was sports and distance. Eagleson said, “Greenville was actually the first basketball recruiting visit that I went on and I knew pretty quickly that this is where I wanted to go. Meeting and getting to know Coach Mo really sealed the deal. I remember I came to a game and Greenville was winning by 30+ points at the half. Coach Mo told the team in the locker room that while he wanted them to be competitive, he didn’t want to break the spirit of the other team. The team was still to play hard and give good effort while showing their absolute best sportsmanship. That was the attitude and mindset that I was looking for. I also liked that Greenville is sort of close to home. I knew it would be important for my parents to come to watch the games, and they have made it to nearly every game in the last three years.”
Since Eagleson is a senior now, she has had many memories from being on the team. One that stood out to her was her sophomore year winning the conference tournament. Eagleson said, “One of my favorite memories is winning the conference tournament and going to the DIII tournament at WashU my sophomore year. We just had an awesome season overall, and it was cool to make history with our record. I also loved going to Costa Rica with the team for our mission trip. There is really nothing like going on a trip and being God’s hands and feet with your best friends.” Following her college education, Eagleson has a couple of options in mind. Those plans include looking to be a GA for a basketball program while getting her Master’s degree at the same time or looking for a teaching position at a middle or high school. Eagleson commented, “At this point, I am praying a lot about the future and letting God lead me where I am supposed to go.”
“I believe Lauren’s leadership will make an incredible difference this year. she brings energy and a high IQ to keep the team working as one.”
–Paige Bennett, Sophomore
Eagleson is excited to get back on the court this season and can already tell this team has amazing chemistry. She is ready and excited to take on the leadership responsibilities this year. Eagleson is also ready to train the next group of leaders for next year as she wants to contribute to the future teams. One of the mottos she has learned from GU basketball is to “leave things better than you found them.” This season, she hopes to do just that.
Media by Isiah Dortch.
