Featured Future is a summer series where the Observer will highlight local student athletes who are preparing to continue their athletic and educational careers at the college level, or those who have already begun that journey.
After four years as a starter with Durant girls basketball, Maggie Lauber will continue her academic and athletic journey at Hillsborough Community College.
Growing up, Lauber played every sport she could — from soccer to golf to lacrosse to softball to basketball starting at four years old. By the end of eighth grade, ready to enter high school, Lauber began to narrow her focus on basketball as her other sports fell to the side as travel and high school basketball took precedence. After a month at Seffner Christian Academy, Lauber transferred to Durant as a freshman and immediately joined the girls basketball team where she was thrust into a starting role as starting senior Kayla Lissy was forced to miss time with an ankle injury. In 21 games played as a freshman, Lauber’s impact became immediately evident as she led the team in points, assists and steals — averaging 10 points per game, 2.2 assists per game and 3.9 steals per game.
“I came to Durant in September and the second I came in they were already starting basketball conditioning and I kind of jumped right into it,” Lauber said. “That season our captain Lissy injured her ankle, it was a really bad sprain and she basically missed the rest of the season, so I had to step up as a freshman and essentially be a captain. I wasn’t labeled a captain but I stepped up as a leader and as a point guard I had to take control when needed and stuff like that.”
As a sophomore, Lauber found action in just 12 games but once again her scoring was notable as she finished second on the team with 169 total points. On a per game average, Lauber finished second on the team with 14.1 points per game while setting team-high marks with 3.3 assists per game and 4.1 steals per game as the Cougars finished the year at 14-7, their highest single-season win total since 2016-2017.
By her third season with Durant, Lauber had transitioned into her role as a captain and full-time starter at point guard. Lauber’s numbers lept forward during that season as her scoring average increased to a team-high 17.5 points per game to go alongside 3.6 assists per game and four steals per game. Part of a stellar junior class that also featured fellow starters Miani Mejia, Ki’Ajanae Gordon and Sophia Flair, Durant finished the year with an incredible 20-5 record, one of the winningest seasons in program history as the Cougars claimed their first district title since 2016-2017 with a victory over rival Newsome in the district finals.
In her junior year Lauber’s dream of playing basketball at the collegiate level began to come into focus as she had her first opportunity to speak with colleges — however the recruitment process wasn’t easy as the COVID-19 pandemic had granted players across the country an additional year of eligibility while college athletics’ new-look transfer portal made it far easier for schools to recruit players that already possessed college experience.
Her success continued through her senior season as she averaged 13.9 points per game, 4.6 assists per game and 4.1 steals per game en route to a 19-6 record for the Cougars.
“It was honestly amazing,” Lauber said. “Freshman and sophomore year we won, but we’d also get our butts kicked by teams that we ended up beating these last two years. It felt amazing, especially doing it with Sophia, Miani and Ki’Ajanae — coming in her junior year. We all bonded so well together and I think we all just felt like we deserved it, especially winning districts our junior year. We felt like we’d worked so hard since coming in as freshman to graduating as seniors and I know that we didn’t win districts this year but I know we’ll never forget the feeling of winning it our junior year. It really just felt like all the hard work had finally paid off.”
Outside of basketball, Lauber also found high school success on the gridiron as a part of Durant’s flag football team. As a receiver her sophomore year, Lauber led the Cougars with 51.4 receiving yards per game, 32.7 rushing yards per game and five interceptions on defense — scoring a team-high 14 total touchdowns as Durant finished the year at 10-2. In her junior year she transitioned to quarterback out of necessity and once again led the team with 55 rushing yards per game, eight passing touchdowns, three rushing touchdowns and five defensive interceptions as the Cougars slid to 4-7. But as a senior, Lauber’s lead resulted in a quick turnaround to 8-3 as her team-high rushing total jumped to 75.5 yards per game to go along with 16 passing touchdowns, 11 rushing touchdowns, four receiving touchdowns and 10 interceptions on defense. In fact, Lauber received two different offers to play flag football at the collegiate level but opted to keep her focus on basketball.
“I love flag football,” Lauber said. “Honestly, if basketball didn’t work out, I had a few offers for flag which was fun but I knew that basketball was my main sport so I stuck with that. Flag football was definitely a lot of fun, I’ll miss that.”
And after conversations with multiple schools about an opportunity to play at the next level, schools that were ultimately tight on scholarship opportunities, Lauber made the decision to sign her national letter of intent to join the girls basketball team at Hillsborough Community College alongside teammates Mejia and Gordon — an opportunity to continue developing at the college level with the hopes of ultimately finding a home at a four-year university following her time with the Hawks.
“When I looked at it, I thought maybe HCC is the best option right now and do one or two years there and try to transfer,” Lauber said. “Honestly I think it’ll be good either way, just to get a fresh start and get used to the new life of college basketball… For me, I’m just kind of trusting the process. Obviously the dream for everyone is to start off at a four-year school and that was my dream and I feel like I worked really hard to get there but I’m also accepting the fact that sometimes you have to take a different path into things that you really want. So I’ve come to acceptance with that and I’m just ready to work even harder to get where I want to be.”
