ST. JOSEPH, Minn. -- When Megan Morgan, Megan Driste and Kira Young first arrived on the College of Saint Benedict campus in the fall of 2022, they found a group of seniors waiting to welcome them into the Bennie basketball program with open arms.
 
"We've been lucky to have great seniors on the team every year we've been here, but especially that first season," Morgan recalled. "I still remember my first day on campus. I'd literally gotten into my dorm room for only five minutes and three seniors on the team came in to give me a hug. They welcomed me and told me what to expect. I was blessed to have people like that who made the adjustment to college much easier."
 
It is that example the trio said they've tried to emulate as seniors themselves.
 
"In high school, a lot of the times, things can be divided by grades," Young said. "That hasn't been the case here at all. Everyone is so close-knit and age really doesn't matter. My first season here, I was transitioning to the post position and Tori Szathmary, who was a senior that year, was so engaging with me. She helped me build a lot of confidence."

That's something I've tried to focus on this years," added Young. "Sometimes, players in their first year need a confidence boost. It isn't easy going from being the best player on your high school team into a situation where you're surrounded by so much other great talent. You can use all the encouragement you can get. I've tried really hard to be there for them – to give them tips and push them in practice."
 
Driste echoed those sentiments, saying the sense of community that exists in the program is one of the things she's enjoyed most about her four seasons at CSB – a period of time that draws to a close when the Bennies play host to Augsburg in their season finale at 1 p.m. Saturday at Claire Lynch Hall,
 
"The seniors we had my first year meant so much to me," Driste said. "I played at Sartell, and one of the seniors my first season – Hannah Johnson – played in our conference at Willmar. My sisters and I grew up playing against her, and we hated it because she was so good. But then I got to be her teammate for a season. I got to meet her parents and our families became friends. We were both elementary education majors so we had that connection too. She's such an amazing person and we're still in touch. Those are the kind of bonds that are really special, and having people like that around gave me something to emulate."
 
Morgan, Driste and Young all have family ties to CSB and Saint John's University.
 
Morgan's mother Rita Miller '90 played for longtime Bennies head coach Mike Durbin during his first few seasons at CSB, and Megan attended basketball camps on campus when she was younger herself.
 
Driste's father Dave is an SJU graduate, while Young's older sister Ella graduated from CSB in 2024.
 
"I feel really lucky I've now had the chance to experience some of what my mom did here, while at the same time providing her the chance to experience Saint Ben's basketball again through me," Morgan said. "Our experiences definitely had similarities. We've both had supportive coaches and great teammates. We both were able to make contributions off the court. We both got great educations.
 
"So I'm happy to say I've followed in her footsteps."
 
Yet Durbin said each of this year's three seniors have charted their own paths at CSB – both on the court and off it.
 
"Having those kinds of family connections can be very valuable in the recruiting process, and all three of them certainly knew a lot about what this program was about before they came here," he said. "But they've gone on to set their own paths and be their own people."
 
"All three of them are kind, respectful and supportive of their teammates. They are all team-first individuals who accepted the roles they were asked to play and played hard within those roles," Durbin said. "They are the kind of people who, if they come back five, 10 or 15 years from now, will still be remembered fondly. They're all impactful individuals and I fully expect they will continue to be on whatever path they choose to follow for the rest of their lives."
 
Here is a closer look at all three members of this season's senior class:
 
Megan Morgan
 
The 5-foot-8 Morgan, a wing from Winona Cotter High School, unfortunately saw her career come to an end a few weeks ago when she suffered a season-ending injury in a 70-57 win at Carleton on Jan. 17.
 
She had surgery earlier this month and has already begun the recovery process.
 

"It's been hard, but the way I've tried to look at it is that it could always be worse," she said. "One of my teammates last season missed her entire senior season due to injury. I've been lucky enough to get to play every game in my Saint Ben's career until the last 10. So it's hard, but I'm getting through it. I'm a very faithful person and I know there have been so many people here praying for me. I've felt a ton of support from my teammates and family. That's made it a lot easier than it could have been."
 
Morgan – who will attend physical therapy (PT) school at Creighton (Nebraska) University starting this fall – said the experience has provided lessons she will be able to draw on when it comes to her future career.
 
"That's the bright side," said Morgan, who totaled 866 points in 94 career games. "I'll understand a lot better what my patients are going through, having gone through it myself."
 
That positive attitude has been a staple of Morgan's time on campus where she has led efforts to raise awareness of mental health issues facing student-athletes, while also being part of the women's choir, the CSB Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and the Benedictine Friends program.
 
"I hope, if nothing else, I've helped encourage athletes to support each other here and added to the sense of community that is already so strong on this campus," said Morgan, an All-MIAC pick as a junior who was averaging 12.3 points per game before her injury this season. "It's been so much fun for me to get to know and work with athletes on all the other teams here."
 
Megan Driste
 
The 5-9 Driste, a wing from Sartell High School, is still getting used to the realization that the curtain is falling on her college basketball career.
 
"It's crazy to think we're done after Saturday," Driste said. "The past three years we've made the (MIAC) playoffs, and to not do that this year has been really difficult. But I've still had so much fun playing with this group. There have been so many great memories."
 

That includes traveling with her teammates and getting to know their families.
 
"We've had the opportunity to play in places like Puerto Rico and Hawaii, and I'd never been to either of those places before," she said. "To get to experience them with my friends and teammates was a lot of fun.
 
"That's been the most amazing part of CSB for me -– the friendships that have grown between us. Our families have gotten close. These are relationships that will hopefully last a lifetime."
 
Driste plans to follow in the footsteps of her father Dave and mother Beth, both of whom are longtime teachers at Sartell High School. She is currently student-teaching a fourth-grade class in Holdingford this semester.
 
"It's so much fun working with elementary schoolers," she said. "I love being able to see the light bulbs in their heads go off when they understand a topic and have that 'a ha' moment. They have such uniqueness and I love their sense of humor. I know that's going to make it fun to go to work each day."
 
Kira Young
 
The 5-11 Young is part of a pipeline from Hudson (Wisconsin) High School that previously brought talented players like Sophia Jonas, the program's all-time 3-point leader, and Olivia Boily to CSB.
 

Jonas and Boily graduated after last season, but Young returned this year and is averaging 11.2 points and 5.7 rebounds per game.
 
"I saw how much fun Livy and Soph were having here, and my sister had nothing but great things to say about the school, so I thought it would be a great fit for me as well," said Young, who earned a spot on the All-MIAC playoff squad a year ago.
 
"That turned out to be true. I couldn't have asked for a better college experience than I've had. I have no regrets at all about my decision," added Young, who has double-digit points in 16 games this season and 36 times in her career.

Young began as a nursing major but switched to nutrition and plans to pursue her master's degree in nutrition and dietetics through the online program at Viterbo (Wisconsin) University following graduation this May.
 
"Once I took a nutrition class, I started to see how much information there was that I could apply to my own life," said Young, the president of the nutrition club on campus who hopes to work for a college or professional sports program one day.
 
"Nutrition plays a huge role in athletics, and I've been able to use a lot of the lessons I've learned to improve my own performance the past few seasons."