Feb. 15, 2008
Since coming to Samford as a freshman in the fall of 2003, senior Alex Munday has made a tremendous impact on the school's women's basketball program. She will leave school as the program's all-time leader in points, field goals made and games played. But, her most significant contribution has been helping to lead the program through its most successful period to date.
Munday came to Samford after a successful high school career. She scored over 1,000 points in high school, and was named to the All-East Tennessee Team and her team's MVP as both a junior and a senior.
Munday said that her father was the first person to get her interested in playing college basketball.
"When I was little and I first starting playing, my dad talked to me about playing in college," Munday said. "He said that it was a realistic possibility."
However, Munday's main reason, among others, for choosing Samford was the academic reputation of the school.
"I knew it was a really competitive academic school, and that was important to me," Munday said. "Also, the basketball program was a program that I thought I could make a difference in. Coach Morris, from the beginning, had a lot of faith in me."
The season before Munday's arrival at Samford, the Bulldogs won just seven games, posting a 7-20 record. Munday made an immediate impact, as she led the team in both scoring (14.2 ppg.) and rebounding (5.6 rpg.). The Bulldogs improved to 10-17 overall and 3-13 in their first year in the Ohio Valley Conference.
At the conclusion of her freshman season, Munday was named the OVC's Freshman of the Year.
"I didn't expect to be named Freshman of the Year," Munday said. "I just wanted to play and hopefully earn a starting position. I never imagined I would be named Freshman of the Year."
Munday said the transition from playing high school basketball to playing the college game was fairly smooth.
"As far as basketball is concerned, it was a pretty easy transition," Munday said. "I thought the coaches I had in high school had prepared me well for college and what it was going to be like. I guess the hardest thing was just being away from home."
In her second season at Samford, Munday got off to a good start, leading the team in scoring and rebounding through the first five games. However, Munday had to miss the remainder of the season due to an illness, and she received a medical redshirt.
With the loss of Munday and then-junior
Chelsee Insell for the season, the Bulldogs posted a 13-15 overall record, and a 6-10 mark in the OVC.
With the entire team back healthy for the 2005-06 season, the Bulldogs improved significantly and posted a school-record 21-8 overall record and a 15-5 conference mark, reaching the semifinals of the OVC Tournament for the first time.
Munday picked up where she left off, again leading the team in scoring (14.7 ppg.) and rebounding (5.6 rpg.). Munday was named second-team All-Conference at the conclusion of the season.
In her junior season, Munday helped lead the Bulldogs to the first back-to-back winning seasons in the program's history. Samford was18-13 overall and 12-8 in OVC play, and the Bulldogs advanced to the semifinals of the conference tournament for the second year in a row.
Munday was named first-team All-Conference after leading Samford in scoring for the third year in a row.
Also in her junior season, Munday became Samford's all-time leading scorer during the Bulldogs' 62-51 win at Eastern Kentucky on Feb. 17.
Munday and the Bulldogs enter the final regular-season home game of her Samford career with a record of 19-6 overall and 12-3 in OVC play. In the last three seasons, Munday and the Bulldogs have posted three of the four best records in the program's history.
For her Samford career, Munday has scored over 1,500 points. In addition to the school records she holds, Munday ranks in the top 10 in school history in rebounds, assists, steals, free-throws made, three-pointers made and games started.
Munday would like nothing better than to end her Samford career with the program's first-ever conference championship and trip to the NCAA Tournament.
"I have yet to win a championship, whether it is in high school or college," Munday said. "I'd like to cut down the net."
After finishing her time at Samford, Munday says she is considering attending Reform Theological Seminary.
"I'm thinking about going to seminary for biblical counseling, and working in a crisis center," Munday said. "I want to work in either a pregnancy crisis center or an abused and battered women's crisis center."
