Megan Compain began her basketball career in Whanganui where she played for her high school team. She left New Zealand at the young age of 16 as an exchange student to attend high school in the United States. Megan went on to attend St Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, playing for the St Joseph Hawks (STJ), where she was twice named Atlanta 10 Player of the Week, won selection in the All-Atlanta 10 Team in her senior year, was the 1997 Big Five Player of the Year and was named in the Big Five Hall of Fame after leading STJ to victory in the Atlanta 10 championship. Over her four years at STJ she finished with 1497 points, 443 rebounds and a phenomenal 82.4% accuracy from the free throw line.
Compain made history in 1997 when she became the first New Zealand player to secure a contract to play professional basketball in the United States, signing on with the Utah Starzz for the inaugural WNBA championships. She was also the youngest NCAA player in the league that year at the age of 21. In 2015 Megan was inducted into the Saint Joseph’s University Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.
Compain was selected to the Tall Ferns in 1998 and competed in the 2000 Sydney Olympics and the 2004 Athens Olympics.
