Maryland’s Mir McLean Embraces Family, Faith and Basketball in Defining Senior Season

The word “legacy” was made for Mir McLean. 

A graduate senior on Maryland’s women’s basketball team, McLean is building on a family legacy that spans both her basketball upbringing and her sorority community, but she’s also adding to her own legacy with every basket she scores, language she learns, and girl she inspires. 

McLean’s community in College Park is centered around her sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha. It’s the same sorority her mother was in decades ago, and McLean is able to build on her family legacy in AKA.

“I was raised by an AKA, so everything that she learned, she implemented and taught me growing up and grew me into it,” McLean said. “Going into college, I knew that I wanted to be a part of AKA because of how I was raised, but I also wanted to kind of experience it on my own and see it from a different perspective from the person that raised me.”

Alpha Kappa Alpha is a part of the Divine Nine, which refers to the nine historically Black Greek-letter sororities and fraternities that comprise the National Pan-Hellenic Council. AKA became the first intercollegiate Black sorority when it was founded at Howard University in 1908.

“AKA really aligns with who I am as a person and my values and my goals,” McLean said. “After I became an AKA, I’ve been able to do all the things that I’ve always wanted to do in the communities and being a part of that sisterhood. I grew up with a whole bunch of brothers, so adding more sisters in my life was really meaningful for me.”

She pours infectious energy and contagious generosity into the College Park community through AKA’s outreach. Lifting up others fills McLean’s glass, and she’s honored to do it through the same organization as her mom.

Family is a key cornerstone to McLean’s identity and upbringing. With three brothers and two parents that played at the collegiate level, sports were always going to be a part of McLean’s life. 

“Our house was super competitive, whether it be my parents competing with each other on who could cook the best meal, or my brothers and I playing sports,” McLean said. “That competitive nature got to me a little bit. My parents had to introduce me to basketball a little earlier than I was ready for. I was planning to be a cheerleader, and I didn't think basketball was a girls' sport, so I didn’t want to play at first. I wanted to stick to my bows and my earrings, just trying to hold down the feminine nature in our household.”

Ultimately, her competitive nature won over, and she started playing the sports her parents played before her. In the McLean household, 10 is more than a number. Both her mom and dad donned the number in their collegiate days, and the two were wed on Oct. 10. 

Now, McLean is continuing that same familial legacy, repping number 10 in red, black, and gold. The number serves as a reminder of where she came from and the support that helped get her journey started.

“It's awesome,” McLean said. “There's no other word to describe it. It's just awesome. Being able to play in front of my family and friends in the number that means the most to me feels really good.”

Her path to College Park took some stops along the way. McLean started her collegiate career at UCONN before transferring to Virginia. When she entered the transfer portal for a second time, the University of Maryland — a school just down the road from her hometown, Baltimore — came calling.

“I really love where Mir is at,” head coach Brenda Frese said. “I just love her journey over the course of her two years here. She’s continued to get in the gym, and she’s shown it in everything that we’ve needed defensively and on rebounds. You can see her competitiveness every game.”

“I think being back home means even more to me, knowing that I’ve been away from home and knowing how much I missed it,” McLean said. “It means a lot more because my family and high school friends can finally come to all my games, and not just a select few.”

Her support system was once again at XFINITY Center for Maryland’s Senior Day win over Purdue. McLean netted 11 points against the Boilermakers as one of three seniors honored with her friends and family by her side.

Off the court, McLean’s always had a passion for language. Growing up, she took what she considered the “basics”: English, Spanish, French, and American Sign Language. She dabbled in Latin during middle school, but one language in particular caught her eye in high school.

“I decided to study Arabic because I have a passion for art,” McLean said. “The way the Arabic language is written, it's read from right to left, and you write right to left, and then you read backwards. Things like that kind of drew my eye to the art form of the language.”

Studying Arabic sparked a lifelong passion for discovering other cultures. McLean earned a degree in Middle Eastern Language and Literature during her time at Virginia, and is wrapping up an International Relations degree at UMD.

“Arabic ended up peaking more than just an interest,” McLean said. “I decided to continue it in college, and found a love and a passion for the culture and the people. Traveling, meeting those people, and discovering that culture led me to want to be a translator and bridge that gap between cultures.”

She wants to be a world traveler, discover new places and cultures, and learn as much as she can about the diverse people of the world. McLean’s already seen more places than the average person ever will, but one solo trip stands above the rest. 

“The coolest place that I've been able to travel to so far has got to be Morocco,” McLean said. “I was able to go there by myself and learn the Moroccan language. It's a form of Arabic, but their second language is French, so it's more of like a French-Arabic combine. Not a lot of people speak it, or know how to speak it, other than Moroccans. I got to learn a whole new language, in a way.”

Basketball is a global sport, so no matter where life takes her after she finishes her time at the University of Maryland, the sport will open a “plethora of opportunities” for her to travel, discover new cultures, and play the game she loves. 

Before McLean can set her sights on more worldly travels, she’s got a promising basketball season to wrap up. Her Terps are peaking at the right time, and she’s been a major reason why. Across Maryland’s current five-game winning streak, she’s averaging nine points and 4.6 rebounds. 

“The coaches have done a really good job of challenging me and allowing me to find myself,” McLean said. “Being a sixth-year senior, they've given me the freedom to use my experience from all the years I've been in college to help my teammates, who have always poured into me.”

McLean was selected as a captain by her teammates and coaches, an honor that fills her with confidence and support. Her team feeds off her, and their appreciation for her is overflowing. 

“Mir is an incredible person, and it shows up on the court,” teammate Saylor Poffenbarger said. “She’s stayed ready. She’s put her head down and worked and hasn’t gotten discouraged. When her time has come, she’s really stepped up for our team. She’s a loud voice, but also a calm presence that we look toward when we face adversity.”

Through her play, coupled with the person she is, McLean’s proven that basketball absolutely is a girl’s sport, and one that can create lifelong bonds and crucial skillsets. 

“I think sports is a great outlet for people, just like any other hobby,” McLean said. “I think sports allow you to be a little bit outside of yourself, because you have to be working with other people. When you can depend on the people next to you and learn how to not only be an individual within yourself and be a great athlete, but lead and be around other people that help you to lead or help you learn to follow, you can grow as an individual. A leader needs to be able to follow as well.”

As Black History Month wraps up, McLean’s able to continue to use her platform in AKA and as a college athlete to be an inspiration for younger girls. She demonstrates leadership, humility, grace, composure, and a competitive spirit every time she touches the floor with thousands of eyes watching.