Faith’s Allison Metzger to play basketball at Oklahoma Christian university
Faith Academy of Marble Falls senior guard Allison Metzger (seated, center) signs her letter of intent to play basketball for Mid-America Christian University in Oklahoma City surrounded by teammates Addison Floyd (seated, left) and Christian Wilcox; coach Bobby Huston (standing, left), teammates Joy Plunk, Logan Floyd, Hannah Marks, and Launa Evans, and athletic director Randy Denton. Courtesy photo
STAFF WRITER JENNIFER FIERRO
MARBLE FALLS — Faith Academy of Marble Falls forward Allison Metzger knew she wanted to play college basketball in a Christian environment. So she set out to find it.
Her search ended April 26 when she signed to play for Oklahoma City’s Mid-America Christian University, a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics’ Sooner Athletic Conference.
“Me and my mom (Judy), we were looking at schools online,” Metzger said. “I found this school. I wanted to continue my growth with the Lord, so we traveled to Oklahoma City. This was the first college I got a feeling for. It felt like walking into the Faith gym”
When Metzger contacted the program, coaches told her they were conducting a college shootout, which is a competition of several incoming freshmen who are vying for roster spots on next year’s team. The competition involves full-court scrimmages of five on five.
“You fill out a paper, you wear a jersey with a number on it,” she said. “Coaches had different papers on each one.”
The college shootout was on a Saturday in early April. Two days later, Metzger received a call telling her she had a roster spot if she wanted it.
Metzger said coaches told her what impressed them about the Lady Flame was the way she held herself while playing with no one she knew and her ability to effectively communicate with her teammates without insulting them or degrading them.
“I took charge but didn’t overpower the whole team,” she said. “I definitely learned that from being a Lady Flame.”
The MACU program had a family feel to it, she said, much like what she experienced at Faith, which is a Christian academy. She believes that is what got the Lady Flames to the state basketball tournament in February.
She isn’t the first Metzger in her immediate family to play college sports. Her oldest sister, Stephanie, was a volleyball player at Bentley University in Boston, while sister Maddie played basketball at Chadron State College in Nebraska.
“I learned what hard work means,” she said. “When they got their summer workouts, I’d do it with them.”