Fighting On for Team, Self

But the most indispensable player has probably been Meghan Gnekow.

The 5-11 junior plays guard and forward, averages 25.5 minutes and 5.8 rebounds to lead the team, is second with an 8.8 scoring average, and is fourth with 37 assists.

Going into USC's final regular-season game, against UCLA (16-10, 10-7) Saturday at the Sports Arena, her 77 offensive rebounds lead the conference.

And what she has accomplished off the court is more impressive.

The 20-year-old from Santa Barbara has spent most of her life overcoming attention deficit disorder, a chronic condition with symptoms including hyperactivity, short attention span, lack of impulse control and low self-esteem.

"It's always been a struggle to just pay attention and take in what everyone else is taking in," Gnekow said.

Gnekow is not the only one in her family with ADD. It was passed on genetically by her mother, Pam. Her brother Brandon, a Marine corporal stationed in Iraq, also has the condition. Her sisters Erin, twins Briana and Ariana, and father William, a retired radiologist, do not.

"A genetic link is common," said Dr. Thomas Hicklin, an assistant professor at the USC Department of Psychiatry. "With adults, the hyperactivity goes away, but the inattentiveness continues. And other problems continue like restlessness and having difficulty in participating in quiet activities like reading."

That would be difficult enough for a college student trying to maintain grades and graduate without the pressure of playing Division I basketball.

But Gnekow, whose attention span can be as short as 20 minutes, is determined to do both.

To be eligible to enroll at USC she took several high school classes twice simultaneously, once at Santa Ynez High and again with a certified instructor from a pilot program developed at the University of Missouri. The grades from both courses were combined into one grade.

To prepare for the Scholastic Assessment Test, Gnekow spent hours working with a tutor.

According to Pam, USC was among the few schools willing to take a chance on her daughter, and even then "we didn't know until the day she moved into the freshman dorm that she was cleared academically by the NCAA."