DE PERE – Former De Pere High School girls’ basketball star Jordan Meulemans is coming home.
Meulemans, who spent her first three seasons at Butler University in Indianapolis, has transferred to Big East Conference rival Marquette University in Milwaukee.
Meulemans, a 2022 De Pere graduate, scored 1,874 career points for the Redbirds.
She has two years of college eligibility remaining.
“I’m super happy to be coming home, even if it’s still a few hours away from Green Bay,” she said. “This past year, I really realized what family means to me because I tore the ACL in my right knee.
Additionally, my parents weren’t able to come to a lot of my games (at Butler) because they both work and couldn’t really take off.”
Meulemans said she is “super excited to stay in the Big East.”
“It’s something any girl dreams of — having your family be able to come to more than half of your games,” she said. “The Big East Conference is great, so the level of basketball will remain high.
Visiting the campus, it was everything I dreamed of. I had that feeling I was supposed to be there, and I’m very grateful for the opportunity.”
Besides being closer to family, Meulemans said there were two other reasons she decided to transfer to Marquette.
“Honestly, I want to make the NCAA tournament, and Marquette has that resume of getting there,” she said. “(First-year) Coach Cara (Consuegra) was named the Big East Coach of the Year with Geno (Auriemma from UConn), so that was cool to see.”
Marquette finished 21-11 overall last season and advanced to the second round of the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament (WBIT).
“Secondly, the culture at Marquette is top-notch,” Meulemans said. “After the (2024-25) season, they didn’t have anybody transfer out of the program — I want to be a part of that.”
After playing in a good number of games and contributing to the success of the Butler team during her first two seasons, Meulemans said she came into last season with high hopes.
That’s until she tore her ACL in October, just before the start of the season.
“It was obviously devastating,” she said. “I had worked really hard in the summer to work on my weaknesses and strengths, and I was ready for a great year. In a preseason practice, we were playing five-on-five against our practice guys. I drove the baseline and threw a cross-court pass to the corner and stepped out of bounds weird.”
Meulemans said she knew instantly the “pop” she heard was not a good sound.
“You hear that snap, and it was just something I never thought would happen to me, but it did,” she said. “Sitting out and seeing everything from the bench was very hard for me, but I had people around me who loved me, and that helped me get through it.”
Meulemans said for her 21st birthday — Oct. 23 — she spent the day in the hospital having surgery on her knee.
“What a birthday present,” she laughed. “In all honesty, things are going great. I’m almost seven months out from the surgery, so I’m rehabbing and trying to get that leg and knee back to full strength.”
Meulemans said the worst part of the rehab is over.
“The first two months are the worst because you can’t do anything,” she said. “I never thought I was going to have to relearn how to walk, so that took a mental toll on me. I’m very grateful for the Butler training staff that helped me through it all. I’m really eager to get back on the court. It’s been a long six months — it feels like it’s been forever.”
Meulemans said she is expecting to be at full strength for the upcoming season.
“I’m projected to come back in 10 months, but you don’t want to come back too early — obviously,” she said. “The normal recovery is nine to 12 months. The Marquette athletic trainers and coaches are super supportive, and they have a plan for me already.”
Meulemans said she is “extremely grateful” for her time spent at Butler.
As a freshman, she started 15 games and averaged 4.5 points and 24 minutes per game.
As a sophomore, Meulemans upped her points per game to 8.1 and her minutes to almost 28.
She was also effective from beyond the three-point arc — shooting more than 42%.
“That was something I didn’t know was going to happen,” she said. “I came into my college career just trying to prove myself, trying to make the team better and then the coaching staff granted me a starting spot for most of my (freshman) year,” she said. “During my sophomore season, we made a good run in the (WNIT), but then we lost to our in-state rival Purdue.”
Meulemans said because she finished in the top 10 in the country during her sophomore season in three-point shooting, she was primed for a breakout year as a junior before her ACL injury.
“I guess it wasn’t meant to be,” she said. “I’m just happy for another opportunity at Marquette — I can’t wait to get started.”
Meulemans said she still stays in contact with her former De Pere teammates and has fond memories of playing.
The Redbirds finished a perfect 18-0 this season in the Fox River Classic Conference, beating Notre Dame Academy along the way — twice.
During her senior season at De Pere, Meulemans helped lead her team to the WIAA Division 1 State Tournament at the Resch Center in Green Bay.
“I’m still very good friends with (former teammates) Oakley Witteck and Claire Bjorge,” Meulemans said. “We just watched our sectional final game (from 2022) a couple of months ago when I was home. I’m super thankful for all of my former teammates. To see how the team has taken the next step is a cool thing to see, and I’m super happy for Coach (Jeremy) Boileau and all the coaches there.”
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